REPORT  ON  THE 

UTILIZRTION  OF  MOJiWE  RIVER  FOR 
IRRIGATION  IN  VICTOR  VELEY,  GRL1FOR 


BULLETIN  NO.  5 
DEPARTMENT  OF  ENGINEERING 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


JUN  1  1  1928 

DEC  n 

JAN  281921 


MAY  4| 
JUL  3  1  1931 


Sii*3*^ 

APP  1  0  195C 

2'8  1953 
14 


Form  L-9-5m-7,'23 


STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DEPARTMENT  OF  ENGINEERING 


BULLETIN  No.  5 


REPORT  ON  THE 


Utilization  of  Mojave  River 

for  Irrigation  in  Victor 

Valley,  California 


By  MOJAVE  RIVER  COMMISSION:  W.  F.  McCLURE, 
State  Engineer,  Chairman;  J.  A.  SOURWINE,%Engineer 
for  San  Bernardino  County;  and  C.  E.  TAIT,  Senior 
Irrigation  Engineer,  Office  of  Public  Roads  and  Rural 
Engineering,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 


(Based  in  part  on  data  gathered  under  cooperative  agreement 
between  the  Office  of  Public  Roads  and  Rural  Engineering,  Irri- 
gation Division,  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
and  the  California  State  Department  of  Engineering.) 


47222 


CALIFORNIA  STATE  PRINTING  OFFICE 


IK  l<? 
•\ 


TC 


PREFACE. 

In  December,  1916,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors of  San  Bernardino  County  praying  for  the  formation  of  an 
irrigation  district  in  Victor  Valley,  east  of  the  Mojave  River.  Under 
the  provisions  of  the  law,  the  State  Engineer  was  called  on  to  report 
upon  the  feasibility  of  the  project,  and  he  caused  an  examination  to 
be  made  therefor. 

It  was  found  that  many  conflicting  claims  exist  to  the  water  intended 
7  to  be  taken  for  the  proposed  district,  by  lands  which  seem  to  have 

AJ 

^  an  equally  good  right  to  the  water  to  those  lands  embraced  in  the 
proposed  district. 

The  State  Engineer,  finding  that  in  the  one  month  allowed  by  law  in 
which  to  make  his  investigation  it  would  be  impossible  to  ascertain 

P  whether  sufficient  water  was  available  to  the  district  for  its  proper 

<?  development,  recommended  that  the  matter  be  held  in  abeyance  until 
the  whole  question  of  the  utilization  of  the  waters  of  Mojave  River 
could  be  analyzed  and  studied,  and  he  suggested  that  a  fund  be  pro- 
vided to  defray  the  cost  of  making  a  thorough  examination. 

^L  The  Board  of  Supervisors  placed  funds  at  the  disposal  of  the  County 
Engineer  to  pay  the  expenses  of  such  an  investigation  to  be  made  jointly 
by  the  San  Bernardino  County  Engineer,  the  Office  of  Public  Roads 
and  Rural  Engineering  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
and  the  State  Department  of  Engineering. 

This  report  is  the  result  of  the  investigation  and  studies  of  the  subject 
made  under  the  co-operative  direction  of  the  agencies  named. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 


INTRODUCTION    9 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 10 

DESCRIPTION     I 11 

EARLY   HISTORY    12 

ENTERPRISES. 

APPLETON  LAND,  WATER  AND  POWER  COMPANY 16 

A!:I;H\VHKAD  RESERVOIR  AND  POWER  COMPANY 18 

MUJAVE  WATER  AND  POWER  COMPANY  22 

RANCIIO  VERDE  COMPANY 23 

DAGGETT  DITCH  24 

YERMO  MUTUAL  WATER  COMPANY „ 24 

PROPOSED  ENTERPRISES  FOR  THE  USE  OF  UNDERFLOW 25 

LAND  OWNERSHIP  AND  SETTLEMENT 26 

MOJAVE  RIVER  IRRIGATION  DISTRICT 28 

VICTOR  VALLEY  IRRIGATION  DISTRICT 29 

SOILS  -_ 31 

CLIMATE     34 

DUTY  OF  WATER 38 

WATER  RIGHTS 46 

r.\  UK  I  {GROUND  WATERS 53 

NVK1.LS  AND  PUMPING 56 

STREAM  DISCHARGE 62 

FORKS  RESERVOIR   SITE 73 

UPPER  WEST  FORK  RESERVOIR  SITES 75 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS SO 

APPENDIX — TABLE  OF  WELLS  IN  VICTOR  VALLEY  __  __  84 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Plates. 

PLATB.  paee 

I.  Map  of  Upper  Part  of  Mojave  River  and  Victor  Valley. 

II.     Fig.   1 — Little  Bear  Valley  Reservoir,  November,   1917,  showing  dam  at  left 

and  gate  tower  at  right 11 

Fig.  2 — Forks  of  Mojave  River  and  mouth  of  Deep  Creek,  showing  Hesperia 

Ditch  on  side  of  mountain 11 

III.  Fig.   1 — East  Fork  of  West  Fork  of  Mojave  River  above  dam  site  No.  3 11 

Fig.  2 — Dam  site  No.  3-B,  West  F'ork,  Mojave  River,  looking  downstream 11 

IV.  Fig.   1 — Dam  site  No.  2,  West  Fork,  Mojave  River,  looking  downstream 19 

Fig.  2 — Forks  dam  site,  West  Fork,  Mojave  River,  looking  upstream 19 

V.     Fig.   1 — Victor  dam  site,  Upper  Narrows  of  Mojave  River 22 

Fig.  2 — Lower  Narrows  of  Mojave  River  and  intake  of  Driscoll  Ditch 22 

VI.     Fig.   1 — West    Mesa    of    Victor    Valley,    showing    Yucca    and    San    Gabriel 

Mountains    _.  22 


Fig.   2 — Mirage  Playa  and  Grey  Mountain 22 

VII.     Contour  map  and   cross  sections,   West  Fork  reservoir   sites  Nos.    2   and   3, 

Mojave  River  75 

Figures. 

FIG  U  HE. 

1.  Diagram  of  comparison  of  annual  precipitation  at  stations  in  Victor  Valley__   37 

2.  Diagram  of  mean  monthly  precipitation  at  Dobie  Ranch 38 

3.  Diagrams  of  wells  in  Victor  Valley 57 

4.  Area,  capacity  and  cost  curves  for  West  Fork  reservoir  sites,  Mojave  River 77 

5.  Economic  cost  curves  for  West  Fork  reservoir  sites,  Mojave  River 79 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


April  30,  1918. 

lo  the  Honorable  Board  of  Supervisors,  County  of  San  Bernardino, 
x<in  Bernardino,  California. 

GENTLEMEN  :  In  accordance  with  the  instructions  of  your  Honorable 
Board,  we  are  submitting  herewith  a  report,  embodying  the  summary 
of  the  studies  made  by  this  commission. 

Your  instructions  read,  "This  commission  shall  have  power  to  make 
such  engineering  investigations  as  may  be  necessary  to  show  the  water 
available,  the  proper  duty  of  water,  the  sufficiency  of  proposed  reservoir 
and  dam  sites,  and  the  general  feasibility  of  the  required  engineering 
works. ' ' 

It  has  not  been  deemed  necessary  or  expedient  to  encumber  the  report 
with  all  the  detail  data  acquired  in  making  the  investigations. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

THE  MOJAVE  RIVER  COMMISSION. 

W.  F.  McCLURE, 
State  Engineer,  Chairman. 

J.  A.  SOUR  WINE, 
Engineer  for  San  Bernardino  County. 

C.  E.  TAIT, 

Senior  Irrigation  Engineer,  Office  of 
Public  Roads  and  Rural  Engineer- 
ing, United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture. 


REPORT  ON  THE 

UTILIZATION    OF   MOJAVE    RIVER   FOR    IRRIGATION    IN 
VICTOR  VALLEY,  CALIFORNIA. 

BY 

MOJAVE    RIVER   COMMISSION. 

W.  F.  McCLURE,  State  Engineer,  Chairman  ;  J.  A.  SOURWINE,  Engineer  for  San  Bernar- 
dino County  ;  and  C.  E.  TAITV,  Senior  Irrigation  Engineer,  Office  of  Public  Roads 
and  Rural  Engineering,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  investigations  for  this  report  related  to  the  following  subjects: 
The  economic  problems  confronting  the  land  entrymen  and  settlers ;  the 
history  :  constructed  works  and  future  plans  of  the  corporate  enterprises; 
the  water  rights  for  which  allowance  must  be  made;  the  amount  and 
movement  of  the  underground  water ;  the  extent  to  which  pumping  from 
wells  can  be  depended  upon  for  irrigation ;  the  amount  of  the  annual 
surface  water  supply ;  the  possible  sites  for  storage ;  the  possibilities  of 
hydroelectric  power  development ;  the  proper  duty  of  water ;  the  area 
for  which  reclamation  can  be  safely  undertaken ;  and  the  most  efficient 
and  economical  plan  of  irrigation  works. 

The  investigations  of  riparian  lands  are  not  as  complete  as  it  was 
desired  to  make  them.  but.  considering  the  time  and  funds  available,  it 
was  necessary  to  limit  the  studies  in  this  direction. 

Data  were  secured  on  all  the  wells  in  the  region  and  the  elevations  of 
the  ground  surface  and  water  surface  for  many  of  the  wells  were 
obtained  by  leveling  from  the  government  bench  marks.  This  enabled 
hydrographic  contours  to  be  located  and  permitted  the  formulating  of 
conclusions  regarding  the  movement  of  underground  water. 

All  records  of  stream  discharge  and  of  precipitation  in  the  watershed 
were  reviewed  and  correlated  in  arriving  at  the  amount  of  water  avail- 
able for  use. 

Data  on  duty  of  water  for  the  crops  suited  to  the  region  were  secured 
throughout  Victor  Valley,  also  from  other  sections  of  southern  California 
with  similar  conditions. 

Complete  contour  surveys  were  made  of  two  possible  reservoir  sites 
which,  together  with  private  surveys  of  other  sites,  give  data  on  all  the 
available  sites  for  storage. 

It  has  not  been  practical  to  present  a  detailed  review  of  the  plans 
previously  proposed  for  the  utilization  of  the  waters  of  Mojave  River. 

The  map  has  been  prepared  from  official  and  authentic  private  sources 
and  from  original  surveys  by  the  commission. 


10  IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

Acknowledgments. 

Space  does  not  permit  acknowledgment  of  all  the  courtesies  extended 
to  the  authors  of  this  report  by  the  many  owners  of  wells  and  ditches 
in  Victor  Valley,  but  the  commission  desires  to  acknowledge  special  aid 
as  follows :  Victor  H.  Smith,  President,  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power 
Company,  for  valuable  discharge  measurements  of  Mojave  River  and 
tributaries;  F.  C.  Finkle,  Consulting  Engineer  for  the  same  company, 
for  description  of  the  company's  works;  H.  Hawgood,  Consulting  Engi- 
neer for  the  Mojave  Water  and  Power  Company,  for  useful  discharge 
measurements  of  Mojave  River ;  J.  B.  Lippincott,  Consulting  Engineer 
for  the  Victor  Valley  Mutual  Water  Association,  for  much  data  on  the 
subject  matter;  John  S.  Thayer  and  Louis  Evans,  of  the  Appleton 
Land,  Water,  and  Power  Company,  for  information  on  the  company's 
lands  and  irrigation  system ;  F.  E.  Trask,  Consulting  Engineer  for  the 
Mojave  River  Irrigation  District,  for  information  as  to  the  plans  of  the 
district;  F.  M.  Walton,  Manager  of  the  Victor  Valley  Irrigation  Dis- 
trict, for  information  as  to  the  plans  of  this  district;  and  to  Byron 
Waters,  Attorney  for  ditch  owners  on  Mojave  River,  for  historical 
facts. 

W,  A.  Johnstone  and  A.  E.  Chandler,  of  the  California  State  Water 
Commission,  visited  the  territory  being  investigated  and  made  sugges- 
tions regarding  water  rights;  0.  E.  Meinzer,  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  gave  access  to  a  report  by  G.  A.  Waring  on  the 
geology  and  ground  waters ;  Charles  A.  Jensen,  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant 
Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  allowed  the  use  of 
apparatus  for  determining  the  wilting  percentages  of  the  soils;  and 
C.  G.  Ilaskell,  Irrigation  Engineer,  Office  of  Public  Roads  and  Rural 
Engineering,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  co-operated  in 
the  investigation  of  the  wells. 

The  commission  was  assisted  by  the  following:  P.  M.  Norboe,  Assist- 
ant State  Engineer,  assisted  in  organizing  the  field  work;  Robert  T. 
Hill,  Consulting  Geologist,  advised  as  to  the  character  of  some  of  the  dam 
sites ;  F.  J.  Veihmeyer,  Irrigation  Engineer,  Office  of  Public  Roads  and 
Rural  Engineering,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  conducted 
the  examination  of  the  soils  and  assisted  in  the  canvass  of  the  wells; 
Fred  D.  Bowlus,  Irrigation  Engineer  of  the  same  department,  made  the 
contour  survey  of  the  Mirage  Valley  and  collected  data  on  water  rights ; 
Porter  V.  Hanf ,  of  the  County  Surveyor 's  office,  San  Bernardino  County 
had  charge  of  the  topographic  surveys  of  the  West  Fork  reservoir  sites ; 
II.  L.  Way,  of  the  same  office,  collected  most  of  the  data  on  duty  of 
water;  Wilber  D.  Cook  assisted  in  the  compilation  of  the  map;  and 
Williams  M.  Humans  prepared  the  map  for  publication. 


Plate   II,   Fig.   1.— Little  Bear  Valley  Reservoir,    November,    1917,   showing   dam  at  left 
and   gate   tower  at   right. 


Plate    II,    Fig.    2. — Forks    of    Mojave    River   and    Mouth    of   Deep    Creek,    showing    Hesperia 
Ditch    on    Side   of   Mountain. 


Plate   III,   Fig.   1. — East  Fork  of  West  Fork  of  Mojave   River  above  Dam   Site   No. 


Plate   III,    Fig.   2. — Dam   Site   No.    3-B,   West   Fork,   Mojave   River,   looking  down   strea 


UTILIZATION   OF   MOJAVE   RIVER.  11 

DESCRIPTION. 

Mojave  River  is  situated  in  San  Bernardino  County,  California,  and 
constitutes  the  chief  drainage  system  of  the  northern  slopes  of  the 
San  Bernardino  Mountains.  The  mountain  headwaters  comprise  two 
distinct  branches,  East  Fork,  or  Deep  Creek,  and  West  Fork,  which 
unite  at  the  base  of  the  mountains  to  form  the  main  river.  This  junc- 
tion is  known  as  the  Forks.  (Plate  II,  Fig.  2.)  Below  it  the*  river,  in 
its  course  90  miles  across  the  desert  plain,  receives  not  a  surface  tribu- 
tary of  consequence.  The  course  of  the  river  is  first  northward  30  miles, 
then  northeastward  20  miles,  and  finally  eastward  40  miles.  The  river 
sinks  at  Soda  Lake  at  an  elevation  between  900  and  1,000  feet  above 
sea  level.  The  mountain  watershed  of  the  river,  217  square  miles  in 
area,  extends  from  an  elevation  of  8,000  feet  at  the  summit  of  the  range 
to  3,000  feet  at  the  Forks.  The  upper  portion  has  heavy  precipitation 
and  the  main  tributaries  are  never  dry.  In  summer  the  water  sinks  in 
the  river  a  short  distance  below  the  Forks  but  appears  again  several 
miles  belyw.  reaching  the  Upper  Narrows  (Plate  V,  Fig.  1)  at  Victor- 
ville,  14  miles  below  the  Forks.  The  surface  flow  continues  through 
the  Lower  Narrows  (Plate  V,  Fig.  2)  4  miles  farther  down  stream  and 
again  sinks  several  miles  below  Oro  Grande.  The  water  is  then  brought 
to  the  surface  for  short  distances  at  a  number  of  other  points,  these 
points  being  farther  apart  and  the  flow  of  diminishing  quantity  toward 
the  lower  end  of  the  stream.  At  places  in  the  dry  channel  water  may 
be  had  by  digging  to  shallow  depths.  The  water  is  generally  seen  at 
Helen  10  miles  below  Oro  Grande  and  agaiir-at  Hicks.  The  valley  is 
confined  between  bluffs  from  the  mountain  to  this  point,  but  between 
Hicks  and  Barstow  it  widens  on  the  northwest  side.  The  channel  is 
again  between  bluffs  from  Barstow  to  Daggett  and  the  water  is  at  the 
surface  at  Barstow  and  at  Nebo,  4  miles  above  Daggett.  Below  Daggett 
the  river  crosses  a  broad  plain.  The  stream  is  twice  more  between 
bluffs,  at  Camp  Cady  and  at  the  Caves,  and  at  both  places  the  water  is 
at  the  surface.  The  Caves  are  remarkable  for  the  columnar  appearance 
and  the  variegated  coloring  which  nature  has  given  the  clay  bluffs  of 
the  canyon  walls.  Below  the  Caves  the  channel  is  dry  in  summer. 

The  late  winter  flood  water  resulting  from  the  melting  of  the  snow 
always  reaches  to  Barstow  and  generally  to  Camp  Cady  as  an  unbroken 
stream.  Some  years  it  reaches  entirely  to  the  broad  basins  of  Soda  and 
Silver  lakes,  which  it  fills  to  a  shallow  depth  and  in  which  the  water 
gradually  disappears  by  sinking  and  evaporating.  The  flood  water 
generally  flows  to  Barstow  from  December  to  April  or  May. 

This  report  is  concerned  chiefly  with  the  upper  part  of  the  river, 
including  the  mountain  watershed  and  the  adjacent  mesas  known  as 
Victor  Valley,  and  with  the  ditches  having  rights  to  water.  The  east 


12  IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

mesa  is  known  as  Apple  Valley  and  the  lower  portion  of  this  mesa 
bordering  the  river  bottom  is  called  the  First  Bench.  The  upper  por- 
tion of  the  west  mesa  (Plate  VI,  Fig.  1)  above  Hesperia  and  stretching 
westward  along  the  foothills  beyond  Cajon  Pass  is  known  as  Baldy 
Mesa,  the  name  being  derived  from  Mount  San  Antonio,  generally  called 
Baldy.  The  lower  and  northern  portion  of  the  west  mesa  about  the 
settlement  of  Adelanto  is  called  Sunrise  Valley  and  the  section  around 
the  dry  lake  bed  at  Grey  Mountain  (Plate  VI,  Fig.  2)  is  called  Mirage 
Valley. 

EARLY  HISTORY. 

Although  the  history  of  the  Mojave  River  country  after  the  beginning 
of  irrigation  is  more  essential  to  this  report,  a  few  facts  relating  to  the 
early  period  may  be  of  interest  and  not  out  of  place. 

Until  about  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  the  territory  along  the  river 
was  dominated  by  the  Piute  Indians  and  it  was  not  a  place  of  safe 
habitation. 

Aside  from  the  native  Indians,  probably  among  the  first  to  explore 
this  part  of  the  desert  were  Jedediah  Smith  and  his  party  of  trappers 
from  Salt  Lake  City,  who  in  1827  crossed  Colorado  River  at  the  Mojave 
Indian  villages  (now  Fort  Mojave)  and  traveled  westward  to  the  course 
of  a  river,  undoubtedly  the  Mojave,  which  was  thereafter  followed 
toward  a  pass,  the  Cajon,  in  the  Coast  Range  en  route  to  Los  Angeles.1 
The  trip  was  repeated  the  following  year,  but  while  crossing  the  Colo- 
rado River  on  a  raft  this  party  was  attacked  in  midstream  by  the 
Indians,  who  had  been  friendly  on  the  first  trip  but  who  had  then  been 
excited  to  hostility  by  the  Spanish,  and  eight  of  the  twelve  members 
were  killed.  The  survivors,  as  had  the  party  of  the  previous  year, 
crossed  the  desert  and  arrived  in  Los  A  nudes  nftcr  much  hardship. 

Again,  in  1829,  Ewing  Young,  al  Hie  head  of  another  party  of  trap- 
pers, a  youthful  member  of  which  was  later  to  be  General  Kit  Carson, 
made  a  similar  journey.2  A  member  of  this  party  has  described  the 
stream  as  a  dry  river  rising  in  the  Coast  Range  and  leading  northeast 
into  the  Great  Basin,  which  was  followed  several  days  before  wrater  wras 
found;  also  as  a  singular  stream  running  southeast  200  miles  and 
emptying  into  Colorado  River,  not  two  miles  of  its  entire  length  in 
which  it  does  not  disappear,  and  in  part  resembling  a  line  of  shallow 
lakes.  In  four  days  after  leaving  the  river  the  party  arrived  at  San 
Gabriel  Mission,  where  they  were  much  refreshed.  The  river  could 
have  been  none  other  than  the  Mojave,  and  the  pass  was  undoubtedly 
the  Cajon. 


JHistory  of  the  American  Fur  Trade  of  the  Far  West,  by  Capt.  H.  M.  Chittenden. 
2Kit  Carson  Days,  by  E.  L.  Sabin. 


UTILIZATION   OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  13 

Evidently  these  early  travelers  were  unaware  of  the  sinking  of  the 
river  at  Soda  Lake,  100  miles  westward  from  Colorado  River,  and 
believed  its  course  could  be  traced  to  a  junction  with  the  larger  stream. 
Whether  the  emigrants  who  later,  but  prior  to  the  fifties,  traveled  the 
Spanish  or  extension  of  the  Santa  Fe  trail  from  Colorado  River  to 
Cajon  Pass  discovered  this  error  is  not  known.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
early  official  maps  show  a  junction  with  the  Colorado,  and  that  the  Army 
engineers  believed  them  to  be  correct  until  1853,  when  reconnaissance 
surveys  were  made1  by  the  War  Department  for  a  railroad  from  the 
Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

That  part  of  the  survey  in  California  was  in  charge  of  Lieutenant 
R.  S.  Williamson,  Avho  had  with  him  William  P.  Blake,  geologist,  and 
25  soldiers  in  command  of  Lieutenant  George  Stoneman  as  a  military 
escort  to  guard  against  attack  by  the  Piute  and  Mojave  Indians. 
Lieutenant  Williamson,  after  deciding  on  Tehachapi  Pass  as  the  most 
practical  entry  from  the  Tulare  to  the  Great  Basin,  set  about  to  locate 
the  best  route  from  there  to  the  mouth  of  the  Gila  River,  where  his 
survey  was,  according  to  instructions,  to  join  that  of  another  party 
working  from  the  east.1 

It  was  reasoned  that  to  cross  the  Sierra  Madres  to  Los  Angeles  by  the 
Soledad  and  Xewhall  passes  would  but  necessitate  another  crossing  of 
the  Coast  Range  to  reach  the  Gila.  Not  only  was  Warners  Pass  believed 
to  be  the  only  gateway  from  the  southern  California  coast  to  the  Colorado 
Desert,  but  it  was  also  believed  that  by  running  eastward  from  the 
Tehachapi  to  Mojave  River  and  then  following  that  stream  to  its  sup- 
posed junction  with  the  Colorado  and  finally  along  the  Colorado  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Gila,  that  excellent  grades  would  be  offered.  An  alternate 
or  second  possible  route  in  order  of  preference  was  to  go  up  instead  of 
down  the  Mojave  River  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  pass  through  the  San 
Bernardino  Mountains  at  the  headwaters  of  the  river  which  would  lead 
to  Colorado  Desert  with  but  a  single  crossing  of  the  range.  A  route 
southward  through  Cajon  Pass  was  not  considered  because  it  would, 
like  a  route  through  Los  Angeles,  require  a  second  crossing  at  Warners 
Pass,  understood  to  be  impractical  for  a  railroad. 

The  surveying  party  traveled  along  the  north  side  of  the  Sierra 
Madres  and  arrived  where  the  Spanish  Trail  from  Cajon  Pass  reached 
Mojave  River  (probably  below  the  Lower  Narrows),  October  19,  1853. 
Here  the  river  is  described  as  a  broad  shallow  stream  with  valley  abund- 
antly wooded  between  terraced  banks  from  one  to  three  miles  apart. 
The  water  soon  sank  to  reappear  at  some  point  of  rocks  below.  A 
detachment  was  sent  up  the  river,  who  soon  returned  with  the  informa- 


JExplorations  and  Surveys  for  a  Railroad  Route  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  Vol.  V.    War  Department. 


14  IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

tion  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  reach  the  Gila  by  the  ascent  of  the 
Mojave. 

Being  now  more  confident  of  the  preference  for  the  river  route, 
Lieutenant  Williamson  started  down  the  river,  and  as  he  progressed 
found  it  more  difficult  to  procure  sufficient  water  for  his  mules  at  some 
of  the  camps,  it  being  necessary  to  dig  in  the  sands  of  moist  places  in 
the  channel. 

Finally,  a  canyon  between  clay  bluffs  100  feet  high,  with  a  running 
stream  for  seven  miles,  evidently  the  Caves,  was  reached.  Below  this 
canyon  was  a  sandy  plain  on  which  the  channel  was  entirely  lost,  but 
a  lake  bed  (Soda  Lake)  was  observed  to  the  north,  which  on  examina- 
tion was  found  to  be  15  miles  long  and  covered  with  an  incrustation  of 
salt  and  moist  in  places.  Camp  was  located  at  springs  (Soda  Lake 
Spring),  at  the  base  of  mountains  near  the  lake  bed,  for  headquarters 
for  further  exploration.  The  first  lake  bed  was  found  to  be  connected 
to  another  (Silver  Lake)  two  or  three  miles  to  the  north  of  it  by  a  ditch 
about  20  feet  wide  and  2  feet  deep.  This  second  basin,  reached  Novem- 
ber 16,  1853,  had  a  smooth  floor  of  hard  dry  clay,  and  it,  like  the  first, 
was  found  to  have  no  outlet.  Thereupon  it  was  concluded  that  the  river 
sank  in  the  first  basin  and  that  the  accumulating  flood  water  when  high 
overflowed  into  the  second  basin. 

Having  determined  the  maps  showing  a  channel  for  100  miles  farther 
east  to  the  Colorado  River  to  be  erroneous,  Lieutenant  Williamson  aban- 
•doned  the  idea  of  a  railroad  over  this  route  and  retraced  his  steps  to 
Soledad  Pass,  through  which  they  went  to  Los  Angeles  and  on  to  San 
Bernardino,  and  from  which  latter  settlement  he  expected  to  go  to 
Warners  Pass  by  way  of  Temecula.  But  at  San  Bernardino  he  was 
informed  of  the  existence  of  San  Gorgonio  Pass  and  as  a  second  surprise 
found  excellent  grades  for  a  railroad  through  this  pass  situated  between 
the  two  highest  peaks  in  southern  California,  Mount  San  Gorgonio  and 
Mount  San  Jacinto.  It  is  of  .interest  to  note  that  the  Southern  Pacific 
from  Tehachapi  to  Yuma  was  constructed  practically  on  the  route  finally 
recommended  by  Williamson,  also  that  portions  of  the  Santa  Fe  and 
Salt  Lake  follow  in  part  the  general  route  he  first  attempted  to  survey. 

Emigrants,  including  gold  seekers  in  '49,  came  to  southern  California 
through  the  thirties  and  forties  from  New  Mexico  and  the  East1  over 
the  Spanish  Trail,  striking  Mojave  River  at  Soda  Lake  Spring  and 
following  it  to  the  Lower  Narrows,  thence  diverging  toward  Cajon 
Pass.  After  the  Mormons  blazed  the  Salt  Lake  Trail  and  settled  the 
new  San  Bernardino  in  1851,  their  wagon  trains  increased  the  traffic. 
The  freighters  carried  supplies  from  Los  Angeles  and  San  Bernardino 
to  the  mines  both  northward  and  eastward.  The  northward  route 

'Century  Annals  of  San  Bernardino  County,  by  L.  A.  Ingersol. 


UTILIZATION   OP    MOJAVE   RIVER.  15 

m-anehed  off  from  the  older  trail  at  the  "Forks  of  the  Road"  near 
where  Daggett  has  been  located.  A  toll  road  was  instituted  in  1862 
and  during  the  sixties  regular  stage  service  was  in  operation  along  the 
river. 

By  the  late  sixties  stockmen,  who  at  first  only  ranged  their  cattle  in 
the  region,  risked  danger  of  depredations  by  the  Indians  and  began  to 
live  along  the  river.  The  first  settlements  were  the  stations  on  the  trail, 
located  where  the  lauds  were  moist  or  where  the  flow  of  the  river  was 
sufficient  for  the  growing  of  hay  to  feed  cattle  and  supply  the  freighters. 
Settlements  Avere  made  near  the  Lower  Narrow's  and  at  other  points 
down  Ihc  river.  Although  not  immediately  on  the  trail,  other  choice 
locations  settled  early  were  just  above  Hie  Upper  Narrows  where  the 
Brown  Ranch  was  .started  and  in  the  valley  of  the  "West  Fork,  called 
Dunlap  Valley. 

The  report  of  Lieutenant  Eric  Bergland,  on  his  expedition  in  1875,1 
records  conditions  on  the  river  at  the  time.  He  had  been  instructed  to 
examine  the  feasibility  of  diverting  the  Colorado  River  of  the  West 
from  its  channel  for  purposes  of  irrigation. 

Starting  with  his  party  from  Los  Angeles,  he  made  his  outward 
journey  to  the  Colorado  along  Mojave  River,  arriving  at  Lane's  Upper 
Crossing,  the  highest  station  on  the  stream  and  located  just  below  the 
Lower  Narrows,  June  29,  1875.  Here  the  river  wras  found  to  be  100  feet 
wide  and  3  feet  deep.  Bergland 's  map  shows  the  successive  stations 
going  down  the  river  to  have  been:  Point  of  Rocks,  now  Helen;  Cotton- 
wood,  now  Iliclfs ;  Grapevine,  now  Barstow ;  Forks  of  the  Road,  located 
eight  miles  below  the  site  of  Daggett;  Camp  Cady,  then  an  abandoned 
military  post ;  the  Caves,  and  Soda  Lake  Spring.  The  eastward  trail 
continued  by  way  of  Marl  Spring  and  Piute  Hill  to  Fort  Mojave.  The 
Mormon  trail  branched  northward  from  the  Forks  of  the  Road.  At 
a  later  time  the  stages,  instead  of  following  the  bend  of  the  river  past 
Grapevine,  traveled  a  more  direct  route  from  Cottonwood  to  the  "Fish 
Ponds, ' '  located  on  the  river  between  Grapevine  and  Forks  of  the  Road. 
Another  shorter  but  less  traveled  route  was  from  Huntingtons,  between 
the  Upper  and  Lower  narrows  by  way  of  Stoddard's  Well,  to  Forks  of 
the  Road. 

Ueruland  found  Soda  Lake  nearly  dry  and  to  give  mirages  of  perfect 
illusion.  He  states  that  the  drainage  from  these  saline  flats  is  supposed 
to  connect  with  Death  Valley  to  the  north,  but  that  this  had  not  been 
proven.  It  may  now  be  stated  that  this  is  as  much  in  error  as  the  once 
supposed  junction  with  Colorado  River.  Although  some  ditches  were 
in  use  on  the  upper  part  of  the  river  at  the  time,  he  makes  no  mention 


'Geographical   Surveys  West  of   the   One   Hundredth  Meridian,   War  Department 
Documents,  1876-77. 


16  IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

of  irrigation ;  however,  he  notes  having  observed  vegetation  at  Point  of 
Rocks,  Cottonwood  and  Camp  Cady.  Some  of  the  moist  lands  at  the 
stations  produced  hay  without  irrigation. 

A  few  small  ditches  are  believed  to  have  been  used  prior  to  1870  and 
more  permanent  conduits  were  constructed  from  1873  to  1880.  Some 
of  the  early  settlers  had  no  title  other  than  possession  to  the  lands 
which  they  occupied  and  they  herded  cattle  for  miles  away  from  the 
river  wherever  feed  could  be  found.  Aside  from  pre-empted  land  in 
the  river  bottom,  one  of  the  first  titles  was  that  granted  to  Max  Stroebel, 
who,  in  1870,  acting  for  an  organization  known  as  the  Thirty-fifth 
Parallel  Association,  purchased  from  the  government,  under  a  statute 
then  in  force,  about  30,000  acres  on  the  upper  part  of  the  river.  It  is 
understood  that  it  was  the  intention  to  establish  a  German  colony  on  the 
land,  but  no  such  plan  was  carried  out,  and  the  land,  although  later 
transferred,  still  remains  in  a  single  corporate  ownership. 

ENTERPRISES. 
Appleton  Land,  Water  and  Power  Company. 

The  Appleton  Land,  Water  and  Power  Company  is  the  successor  of 
the  Hesperia  Land  and  Water  Company.  The  older  company  was  organ- 
ized in  1886  with  an  authorized  capital  stock  of  $300,000,  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  water  to  and  selling  the  Stroebel  lands  which  were 
acquired  at  the  time  of  organization.  The  lands  had  originally  been 
purchased  from  the  government  about  1870  when  the  public  lands  were, 
under  certain  conditions,  sold  in  unlimited  quantities  at  $1.25  per  acre. 
The  Stroebel  holdings  consisted  of  about  30,000  acres  situated  in  the 
Mojave  River  bottom  and  on  the  west  mesa,  and  comprised  township  4 
north  and  most  of  the  even-numbered  section  of  township  5  north, 
range  4  west.  About  20,000  acres  of  the  lands  had  been  acquired  under 
a  single  patent. 

Soon  about  2,000  acres,  including  the  dam  site  at  the  Upper  Narrows 
(Plate  V,  Fig.  1),  were  sold  and  the  towns  of  Victorville  and  Hesperia 
were  started.  A  tract  of  160  acres  at  the  forks  of  Mojave  River, 
together  with  the  water  right  appurtenant  to  it,  also  the  claim  to  the 
surplus  waters  of  the  West  Fork,  were  purchased.  A  conduit  was 
constructed  to  divert  W7ater  from  Deep  Creek  at  a  point  above  the  forks 
and  convey  it  across  the  main  Mojave  River  for  the  irrigation  of  lands 
in  the  vicinity  of  Hesperia  on  the  west  mesa.  From  the  intake  to  the 
Mojave  River  the  conduit  consisted  of  four  miles  of  concrete  lined  ditch 
(Plate  II,  Fig.  2).  The  water  was  then  carried  under  the  river  by 
inverted  siphon  which,  together  with  the  extension  to  Hesperia,  con- 
sited  of  five  miles  of  14-inch  steel  riveted  pipe.  The  pipe  terminated 
in  an  earthen  reservoir  of  58  acre-feet  capacity.  Some  apple  orchards 


UTILIZATION    OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  17 

were  planted  and  these,  together  with  other  crops,  made  a  total  of  about 
1,000  acres  which  were  irrigated  from  the  system  at  one  time.  The 
project  had  been  launched  toward  the  end  of  a  period  of  unusual  activity 
in  the  exploitation  of  lands  throughout  southern  California,  and  as  a 
reaction  there  followed  a  period  of  general  depression  among  private 
corporate  colonization  enterprises  accompanied  by  the  complete  failure 
of  numerous  state  irrigation  districts.  During  this  era  of  litigation  with 
its  disastrous  effect  on  irrigation  securities,  the  Hesperia  company  made 
no  further  progress  and  was  unable  to  finance  the  development  of  more 
water  for  the  reclamation  of  additional  land.  What  was  most  needed 
to  make  the  system  efficient  for  the  lands  sold  and  adequate  for  a  larger 
area  was  storage  of  winter  flood  water  for  use  in  the  late  summer  when 
the  flow  of  Deep  Creek  was  at  the  lowest  stage.  The  area  irrigated 
became  smaller,  and  Hesperia,  which  had  given  promise  of  becoming  a 
prosperous  settlement,  declined.  The  water  system  was  operated  at 
a  loss.  The  steel  siphon  under  Mo.jave  River  was  washed  out  by  flood 
several  times,  but  was  each  time  replaced,  although  for  two  years  prior 
to  the  reorganization  in  1911.  no  water  was  delivered  at  Hesperia.  The 
cost  of  the  irrigation  works  was  estimated  at  $100,000  in  1910. 

In  1911  the  system  was  transferred  to  a  new  corporation,  the  Appleton 
Land.  Water  and  Power  Conipany,  with  an  authorized  capital  of 
$300,000,  of  which  $250,250  is  issued.  At  the  time  of  appraisal  by  the 
California  Railroad  Commission  the  company  stated  its  assets  to  be 
$575,000,  and  liabilities  $448,273.  Improvements  were  begun,  including 
the  relining  of  the  intake  ditch,  the  construction  of  four  miles  of  30-inch 
steel  riveted  pipe,  including  the  inverted  siphon  under  Mojave  River 
which  was  placed  in  a  new  location.  Two  miles  of  the  old  14-inch  pipe 
connecting  the  main  line  with  Hesperia  remain  in  place.  The  diversion 
works  consist  of  a  lowr  concrete  dam  20  feet  long  across  Deep  Creek  and 
headgates.  The  capacity  of  the  main  conduit  is  probably  40"second-feet. 

The  Hesperia  Water  Company  was  organized  in  1915  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $40,000,  of  which  $10,500  is  issued,  to  distribute  and  serve  water 
to  the  town  of  Hesperia  and  to  the  users  for  irrigation  under  the  system. 
The  Yictorville  water  system  is  still  owned  by  the  Appleton  company. 
The  Hesperia  Water  Company  obtains  the  water  from  the  Appleton 
company  under  lease  and  is  classed  as  a  public  utility,  and  as  such  is 
regulated  by  the  California  State  Railroad  Commission.  The  water 
rate  approved  by  the  (-omission  is  1.5  cents  per  hour-inch.  The  handling 
of  the  water  sales  under  this  subsidiary  organization  divorces  the  public 
service  from  the  land  colonization  enterprise.  In  1916  only  90  acres 
of  apple  orchard  and  220  of  alfalfa  and  corn  were  irrigated. 

Of  the  Appleton  Land,  Water  and  Power  Company's  lands  20,000 
acres  are  in  one  tract,  18.000  acres  of  which  are  commanded  bv  the  main 


18  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

pipe  line.     Laterals  would  have  to  be  extended  to  irrigate  this  area. 
The  lands  are  not  now  being  offered  for  sale. 

The  land  in  the  Lower  Narrows  of  Mojave  River  (Plate  V,  Fig.  2), 
between  Victorville  and  Oro  Grande,  which  has  possibilities  as  a  dam 
site,  was  at  one  time  acquired  by  the  predecessor  of  this  company,  but  it 
was  sold  and  no  storage  at  the  Lower  Narrows  has  been  seriously 
contemplated  by  these  companies  or  others. 

The  company  claims  riparian  rights  to  about  20,000  acres  acquired 
from  the  government  under  one  patent,  also  appropriation  rights,  one 
relating  back  to  the  filing  for  the  ditch  purchased,  another  to  the  filing 
for  the  Deep  Creek  diversion  and  conduit  to  Hesperia,  another  on  the 
surplus  water  of  the  West  Fork  and  the  control  of  other  filings  made 
in  1911. 

Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company. 

The  predecessor  of  the  present  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power 
Company  was  the  Arrowhead  Reservoir  Company,  organized  in  1891, 
the  principal  stockholders  being  Cincinnati  capitalists.  The  original 
plan  was  a  colossal  undertaking.  It  was  proposed  to  construct  a  main 
reservoir  in  Little  Bear  Valley  which  would  impound  the  natural  drain- 
age of  Little  Bear  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Deep  Creek.  An  inlet  tunnel, 
now  partly  constructed,  was  to  be  made  from  the  reservoir  eastward  to 
Deep  Creek  and  extended  from  this  stream  to  Crab  and  Holcomb  creeks 
to  collect  all  drainage  above  the  tunnel  and  carry  it  into  the  reservoir. 
Diversion  dams  and  regulating  reservoirs  were  to  be  located  at  Deep, 
Crab  and  Holcomb  creeks  and  the  flow  of  the  smaller  streams  was  to 
enter  the  tunnel  through  shafts.  All  of  these  works  would  be  in  the 
Deep  Creek  watershed.  Another  reservoir  was  to  be  constructed  in 
Grass  Valley,  westward  of  the  main  reservoir  and  on  a  tributary  of  the 
West  Fork  of  the  Mojave  River,  and  this  supplemental  basin  was  to 
be  connected  with  the  main  basin  by  a  tunnel.  Two  other  reservoirs 
were  to  be  located  in  mountain  flats,  the  sites  for  which  were  later 
abandoned.  Water  was  to  be  taken  from  the  main  reservoir  by  an 
outlet  tunnel  through  the  San  Bernardino  Range  and  delivered  for  the 
irrigation  of  lands  south  of  the  mountains.  The  company  had  no  lands 
for  sale  and  made  no  contracts  for  the  delivery  of  water. 

A  masonry  dam,  to  form  the  main  reservoir,  was  begun  on  Little  Bea^ 
Creek,  but  by  the  time  the  foundation  was  constructed  it  was  found  that 
suitable  rock  in  sufficient  quantity  to  construct  a  masonry  dam  was  not 
to  be  had  near  the  site.  This  caused  a  suspension  of  construction  which 
was  prolonged  for  a  number  of  years.  Data  on  the  amount  of  water 
for  storage  had  been  meagre  and  the  supply  had  been  overestimated. 
In  1892  a  series  of  precipitation  and  run-off  measurements  was  begun 
throughout  the  watershed  wrhich  was  continued  for  13  years  before 
construction  was  resumed. 


Plate   IV,    Fig.    1. — Dam    Site    No.   2,   West   Fork,    Mojave    River,    looking   down   stream. 


Plate    IV,    Fig.   2. — Forks   Dam    Site,    West   Fork,    Mojave    River,    looking   up   stream. 


UTILIZATION   OP   MOJAVE   RIVER.  19 

Until  1895  the  development  of  power  had  not  been  considered  in 
connection  with  the  project.  About  that  time,  when  it  became  known 
that  long  transmission  of  electrical  power  was  practicable,  it  was 
planned  to  utilize  the  energy  of  the  water  in  its  descent  on  the  southern 
slope  of  the  mountains. 

In  1905  the  property  was  transferred  to  a  new  corporation,  the 
Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company,  capitalized  at  $6,500,000 
with  nonassessable  stock  of  which  $500,000  was  5  per  cent  preferred 
and  the  remainder  common  stock.  Shares  representing  about  $000.000 
par  value  were  issued  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  trustee,  no  payments 
having  been  made  on  these  shares.  Some  of  the  stockholders  have  taken 
notes  of  the  company  for  other  obligations,  but  the  company  has  no 
indebtedness  outside  of  the  stockholders. 

The  type  of  dam  for  the  Arrowhead  site  was  changed  to  a  semi- 
hydraulic  fill  with  concrete  core.  The  plan  of  outlet  works  was  also 
modified.  The  Burcham  ranch,  now  called  Rancho  Las  Flores,  contain- 
ing 5,240  acres  and  including  the  Forks  reservoir  site  (Plate  IV,  Fig.  2) 
on  the  West  Fork  of  Mojave  River  near  the  Forks,  also  two  dam  sites 
farther  upstream  on  the  West  Fork  and  known  as  the  West  Fork  sites 
numbers  2  and  3  (Plate  III,  Fig.  2,  and  Plate  IV,  Fig.  .1),  were 
acquired.  It  was  proposed  to  convey  the  water  in  Little  Bear  Valley 
reservoir  to  the  Forks  reservoir,  using  the  intervening  drop  for  power 
development.  The  water  would  be  combined  in  the  forks  reservoir  with 
that  received  from  the  natural  drainage  of  the  West  Fork.  This  lower 
reservoir  was  then  to  be  drained  by  a  tunnel  through  the  mountain  range 
to  the  south  side,  where  another  power  drop  would  be  located  and  below 
which  the  water  would,  as  under  the  former  plan,  be  delivered  for 
irrigation  in  San  Bernardino  Valley. 

About  1909  some  of  the  owners  of  riparian  lands  on  Mojave  River, 
including  the  Hesperia  Land  and  Water  Company,  filed  suits  to  prevent 
the  company  diverting  water  from  the  watershed,  but  the  cases  have  not 
been  brought  to  trial.  In  1912  application  was  made  to  the  California 
Railroad  Commission  for  permission  to  issue  $4,000,000  in  bonds  when 
riparian  land  owners  again  opposed  the  plans  of  the  company  by  pro- 
testing against  the  granting  of  the  application.  The  application  was 
denied,  without  prejudice,  for  the  stated  reason  that  the  company's  title 
to  water  was  uncertain  until  the  cases  were  decided  by  the  courts. 
The  record  of  the  hearings  conducted  by  the  commission  on  the  applica- 
tion shows  the  following: 

Valuation  put  on  property  at  time  of  reorganization $1,191,000 

Spent   by   new   company   since   reorganization 923,204 

Principal  owed  by   new  company 793,796 

Interest  owed  by   new  company   126,589 


Total $3,034,589 


20  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

About  this  time  the  company,  or  a  trustee  of  some  of  the  stockholders, 
began  to  purchase  riparian  lands  on  Mojave  River  mainly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  quieting  opposition  from  adverse  water  right  claimants,  and 
1,000  acres  just  below  the  Forks  and  3,200  acres,  together  with  most  of 
older  and  more  useful  ditches  between  Victorville  and  Barstow,  were 
acquired.  This  property  included  the  Westwater  lands  below  Victor- 
ville. 

It  had  been  the  intention  to  purchase  more  riparian  lands,  but  owing 
to  the  decision  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  about  this  time  to  the  effect 
that  flood  waters  of  a  stream  could  not  legally  be  diverted  from  the 
natural  drainage  basin,1  a  radical  change  in  plan  was  adopted  which 
made  this  no  longer  necessary.  It  was  now  decided  to  use  the  water  for 
the  development  of  power  and  irrigation  on  the  north  side  instead  of  the 
south  side  of  the  mountains.  In  1914  an  offer,  which  was  not  accepted, 
was  made  to  the  city  of  San  Diego  to  sell  the  water  from  the  system,  the 
diversion  from  the  watershed  for  domestic  use  not  being  illegal. 

In  addition  to  agricultural  lands  below  the  Forks,  the  company  holds 
about  12,000  acres  in  the  mountains,  mainly  in  the  Little  Bear  Valley, 
Grass  Valley  and  Forks  reservoir  basins.  The  company  claims  riparian 
rights  appertaining  to  the  extensive  lands  above  and  below  the  Forks, 
also  appropriation  rights  on  all  streams  above  the  Little  Bear  Valley 
reservoir  inlet  dating  from  1890  and  on  the  West  Fork  and  Deep  Creek 
dating  from  1905. 

•  The  company  claims  that  the  measurements  show  that  enough  water 
can  be  stored  to  enable  the  delivery  of  40  second-feet  continuously  from 
the  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir,  or  100  second-feet  continuously  from 
this  reservoir  and  the  Forks  reservoir  combined. 

The  Little  Bear  Valley  dam  (Plate  II,  Fig.  1)  is  now  built  to  a  height 
of  160  feet  above  stream  bed  and  is  80  per  cent  completed.  It  is  to 
have  a  maximum  height  of  200  feet  above  stream  bed  and  220  feet 
above  bedrock,  a  length  on  top  of  830  feet  and  a  top  width  of  20  feet. 
The  fill  will  contain  1,562,329  cubic  yards  of  earth  and  the  core  will 
contain  27,999  cubic  yards  of  concrete.  The  original  slopes  were,  inside 
2^  to  1  and  outside  2  to  1,  but  an  addition  is  now  being  made  to  the 
lower  fill  to  change  the  outside  slope  to  3  to  1.  The  core  wall  is  20  feet 
thick  at  the  base  and  tapers  to  3  feet  thick  at  the  top.  That  part  above 
a  thickness  of  4  feet  is  reinforced.  In  the  winter  of  1909  cracks 
occurred  in  the  top  of  the  core  wall  which  had  then  been  built  up 
38  feet  above  the  earth  fill.  The  cracking  was  believed  to  be  due  to 
the  effect  of  temperature  on  this  exposed  portion  of  the  concrete.  The 
cracks  were  repaired.  The  spillway  is  over  the  natural  rim  of  the 
basin  and  is  5  feet  deep,  100  feet  wide  and  is  to  be  lined  with  concrete. 

'Miller  &  Lux  vs.  Madera  Canal  and  Irrigation  Company,  155  Cal.  60. 


TTILIZATION    OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  21 

The  Deep  Creek  inlet  tunnel  is  under  construction,  it  now  being  driven 
and  partly  lined  from  the  reservoir  to  a  point  beyond  Shake  Creek,  a 
length  of  nearly  two  miles.  A  siphon  of  1,284  feet  and  shafts  at  Fern, 
Shake  and  Sheep  creeks  are  finished.  The  completed  tunnel  will  be 
over  14,316  feet  long-.  The  tunnel  from  Deep  Creek  to  Crab  Creek  is 
to  be  5,000  feet  long  and  the  Holcomb  Creek  extension  is  to  add  12,100 
feet.  -  The  Deep  Creek  dam  is  to  be  150  feet  high  above  stream  bed,  of 
which  height  30  feet  would  be  below  the  tunnel  portal.  The  Deep  Creek 
reservoir  is  to  have  a  capacity  of  2,000  acre-feet  and  is  to  act  as  a 
regulator  to  the  inlet  tunnel.  The  tunnel  has  a  capacity  of  600  to 
1,000  second-feet,  depending  on  the  head  above  the  intake.  The  Hol- 
eomb  Creek  dam  is  1o  be  70  feet  high,  giving  a  capacity  of  1,000  acre- 
feet  to  the  basin  above  the  tunnel. 

The  tunnel  connecting  Grass  Valley,  4,172  feet  long,  is  driven  and 
lined,  but  the  Grass  Valley  dam  has  not  been  constructed.  The  dam  as 
proposed  is  to  be  90  feet  high,  which  would  give  a  storage  capacity  of 
7,632  acre-feet.  Water  is  now  diverted  from  Grass  Valley  by  ditch  to 
and  through  the  connecting  tunnel  into  the  main  reservoir. 

The  outlet  tunnel  of  the  main  reservoir,  5,102  feet  long,  is  constructed 
and  lined,  and  through  it  water  can  now  be  discharged  into  Guernsey 
Creek,  a  tributary  of  Deep  Creek,  above  the  intake  of  the  Appleton 
Land,  Water  and  Power  Company's  canal.  The  gate  tower  (Plate  II, 
Fig.  1)  is  a  reinforced  concrete  structure  185  feet  high  located  in  the 
reservoir  basin  at  the  upper  end  of  the  outlet.  Besides  the  gate  valves 
in  this  tower  additional  valves  are  placed  in  a  shaft  220  feet  deep  extend- 
ing down  to  the  outlet  in  the  rock  rim  of  the  reservoir.  The  maximum 
head  on  the  outlet  will  be  175  feet.  The  maximum  depth  of  water  at 
the  dam  will  be  185  feet.  The  capacity  of  the  completed  reservoir 
below  the  floor  of  the  spillway  will  be  60,179  acre-feet  when  the  area 
of  the  water  surface  will  be  883  acres.  About  35,000  acre-feet  is  now 
stored  in  the  reservoir  with  the  dam  partially  completed. 

The  fall  from  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir  to  the  Forks  is  2,000  feet, 
a  drop  sufficient  to  develop  about  7,000  horsepower  with  40  second-feet 
of  water.  The  Forks  reservoir  site  is  in  a  position  to  receive,  naturally, 
the  entire  flow  of  the  West  Fork,  also  the  water  from  Little  Bear  Valley 
reservoir  through  the  proposed  power  conduit  and  the  flood  water  from 
the  lower  part  of  Deep  Creek,  provided  about  one  mile  of  inlet  ditch  or 
tunnel  be  constructed  from  that  stream.  A  dam  150  feet  high  across 
the  West  Fork  would  give  a  capacity  of  102,000  acre-feet  and  a  reservoir 
area  of  2,000  acres.  In  addition  to  the  main  dam  a  saddle  in  the  rim 
of  the  basin  on  the  north  side  would  have  to  be  raised  with  an  embank- 
ment to  give  this  capacity. 


22  IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS   IN   CALIFORNIA. 

Mojave  Water  and  Power  Company. 

The  project  now  undertaken  by  the  Mojave  Water  and  Power  Com- 
pany was  first  attempted  by  the  Columbia  Colonization  Company, 
organized  about  1895.  It  was  proposed  to  dam  Mojave  River  at  the 
Upper  Narrows  (Plate  V,  Fig.  1)  to  impound  water  which  would  be 
used  to  irrigate  the  desert  along  the  river  below  Victorville.  An  option 
was  procured  to  purchase  from  the  Hesperia  Land  and  Water  Company 
the  dam  site  and  the  lands  of  the  latter  company  that  would  be  flooded 
by  the  reservoir  to  be  formed. 

The  company  failed  to  carry  out  the  plan  and  the  option,  also  about 
16,000  acres  of  land  along  the  river  below  Victorville,  were  acquired  by 
James  Westwater,  who  proposed  to  construct  a  tunnel  from  the  reser- 
voir underneath  the  mesa  and  through  the  San  Bernardino  Mountains, 
a  distance  of  22  miles,  to  convey  part  of  the  stored  water  to  the  southern 
side  of  the  range  where  it  would  be  used  for  the  development  of  power 
and  for  irrigation,  while  some  of  the  water  was  to  be  used  to  irrigate 
the  mesa  and  valley  lands  along  the  river  below  Victorville. 

The  dam  site  and  the  reservoir  lands  of  the  Hesperia  Company, 
2,060  acres,  were  then  pundTased  by  I.  R.  Wilbur,  who,  together  with 
Mr.  Westwater,  obtained  also  an  option  to  purchase  the  lands  of  Rancho 
Verde  that  would  be  flooded.  Mr.  Wilbur  then,  together  with  Eugene 
de  Sabla  and  others,  in  about  1908  organized  the  Mojave  Water  and 
Power  Company,  to  which  the  property  was  assigned.  The  option  on 
the  Verde  lands  has  been  allowed  to  expire.  A  right  of  way  was 
secured  from  the  government  to  use  the  unentered  land  at  the  rocky 
points  of  the  dam  site  for  reservoir  purposes. 

The  Victor  dam  site  (Plate  V,  Fig.  1)  is  good,  the  gorge  having  walls 
of  granite,  and  the  reservoir  is  open  to  criticism  only  for  its  large  area 
which  would  probably  produce  a  heavy  evaporation  loss.  The  possi- 
bility of  seepage  water  detouring  around  the  west  end  of  the  dam  site 
is  not  a  serious  objection,  for  some  water  must  of  necessity  be  allowed 
to  flow  down  the  river  to  satisfy  lower  riparian  owners. 

Tests  of  the  underflow1  in  the  narrows  were  made  in  1894  by  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey.  Velocities  of  10  to  96  feet  per  day 
Were  found  in  the  different  parts  of  the  cross  section.  The  amount  of 
underflow  for  the  section  of  4,160  square  feet  at  an  average  velocity  of 
50  feet  per  day,  and  assuming  the  porosity  of  the  sands  at  33-J-  per  cent 
was  found  to  be  .8  second-foot. 

The  elevation  of  the  river  channel  at  the  dam  site  is  2,709.  The 
United  States  Geological  Survey  made  borings2  in  1899  to  determine 
the  position  of  bedrock  and  found  the  maximum  depth  to  the  rock  to 

Water  Supply  Paper  No.  140,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey;  Twenty-first 
Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 


Plate    V,    Fig.    1. — Victor    Dam    Site,    Upper    Narrows    of    Mojave    River. 


Plate   V,    Fig.    2. — Lower    Narrows   of   Mojave    River   and   intake   of   Driscoll   Ditch. 


Plate  VI,  Fig.  1. — West  Mesa  of  Victor  Valley,  showing  yucca  and  San  Gabriel  mountains. 


Plate  VI,   Fig.  2. — Mirage   Playa  and  Grey  Mountain. 


UTILIZATION   OF   MOJAVE   RIVER.  23 

be  46  feet.  The  width  of  the  gorge  at  stream  bed  is  140  feet  and  at 
145  feet  above  the  stream  it  is  350  feet.  Complete  detailed  surveys 
have  been  made  of  the  dam  site  and  reservoir  basin  by  Mr.  Hawgood 
for  the  company,  from  which  the  following  capacities  are  taken : 

SO  ft.  contour  75,000  acre  feet 

100  ft.  contour  134,000  acre  feet 

120  ft.  contour  218,000  acre  feet 

130  ft.  contour  271,000  acre  feet 

140  ft.  contour  j 350,000  acre  feet 

For  the  site  to  be  utilized  several  miles  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad 
would  have  to  be  moved  to  a  new  location.  The  railroad  company  has 
agreed  to  move  the  track  to  permit  the  building  of  the  dam  and  has 
surveyed  an  acceptable  route  entering  Victorville  farther  to  the  west 
by  way  of  the  arroyo. 

The  gigantic  plan  for  a  tunnel  from  the  reservoir  to  San  Bernardino 
Valley  has  been  abandoned  and  it  is  now  contemplated  to  use  all  the 
stored  water  on  the  lands  on  both  sides  of  the  river  below  the  reservoir. 
A  canal  from  the  base  of  the  dam  would  reach  the  mesa  west  of  the 
river  in  a  distance  of  about  12  miles.  It  is  now  the  intention  to  con- 
struct the  dam  to  about  the  130-foot  contour  which  would  give  an  area 
to  the  full  reservoir  of  5,800  acres  and  a  capacity  of  271,000  acre-feet. 
The  dam  would  be  345  feet  long  on  top.  According  to  the  discharge 
measurements  of  the  company  and  provided  the  water  be  not  impounded 
above,  also  allowing  5  feet  for  evaporation,  enough  water  can  be  stored 
to  deliver  from  100  to  140  second-feet  continuously  for  300  days. 

Rancho  Verde  Company. 

Rancho  Verde  includes  3,800  acres  in  the  Mojave  River  bottom  just 
above  the  Upper  Narows.  The  first  occupation  was  about  1867  by 
James  Brown,  a  cattleman  who  pre-empted  land  and  by  1874  had  1,500 
acres  fenced  and  a  ditch  from  the  river.  Cole  and  Harris,  wrho  acquired 
the  property  about  1894,  added  more  land  by  purchase,  constructed 
another  ditch,  drilled  wells,  and  started  a  dairy.  They  also  incorpo- 
rated Rancho  Verde  Company  and  about  1902  sold  to  the  present 
owners.  Until  1912  cattle  had  been  grazed  on  the  surrounding  public 
range"  as  well  as  on  the  ranch,  but  by  this  time  the  range  was  so  well 
occupied  by  entrymen  that  the  cattle  were  sold  and  the  ranch  has  since 
been  producing  alfalfa  and  sugar  beets.  The  owners  claim  that  taxes 
have  been  paid  on  1,000  miner's  inches  of  water  diverted  by  the  ditches 
since  1869,  and  to  obtain  880  miner's  inches  from  the  seven  pumped 
wells  and  350  miner 's  inches  from  the  twelve  flowing  wells  on  the  ranch. 
About  1,000  acres  are  now  being  irrigated  and  the  ditches  cover  1,500 


24  IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA, 

acres,  all  of  which  has  been  irrigated.  A  portion  of  the  land  is  riparian. 
This  ranch  is  the  most  extensive  of  the  producing  properties  and  the 
company  is  the  largest  user  of  water  on  Mojave  Elver. 

Daggett  Ditch. 

The  headworks  of  the  Daggett  Ditch  were  begun  by  the  Silver  Valley 
Land  and  Water  Company  about  1890.  It  was  then  the  intention  to 
collect  the  underflow  of  the  Mojave  River  and  convey  it  to  the  Calico 
mining  district  north  of  the  river,  near  Otis  (Yermo  P.  0.)-  After 
constructing  some  works  at  the  "Fish  Ponds,"  near  Nebo,  the  promoters 
were  unable  to  finance  the  completion  of  the  enterprise  and  the  work 
was  resumed  by  the  Southern  California  Improvement  Company  in 
1893,  who  changed  the  plan  to  a  ditch  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  for 
the  purpose  of  irrigating  land  near  Daggett  and  Minneola.  A  sub- 
merged dam  of  sheet  piling  driven  down  through  the  sands  of  the 
channel  and  into  the  subsurface  clay  was  placed  across  the  river  and 
a  tunnel  or  gathering  flume  was  excavated  above  this  dam  to  receive 
the  water  and  deliver  it  to  the  ditch.  The  ditch  was  constructed  from 
the  intake  to  the  Daggett  ranch,  a  distance  of  four  miles,  and  from  there 
to  the  town  site  of  Minneola,  an  additional  six  miles.  The  company's 
activities  terminated  with  bankruptcy.  In  1901  a  copartnership  of 
four  persons  undertook  the  improvement  and  completion  of  the  works. 
The  headworks  which  had  been  damaged  by  flood  were  improved,  30-inch 
concrete  pipe  was  laid  in  the  first  mile  of  the  ditch  and  covered  with 
earth,  and  the  remaining  three  miles  of  ditch  leading  to  the  Daggett 
ranch  was  lined  with  concrete  and  covered  with  boards.  The  ditch 
from  Daggett  to  Minneola  was  abandoned. 

The  gathering  tunnel  at  the  intake  is  about  one-half  mile  long  and 
is  timbered  on  top  and  sides.  The  ditch  is  claimed  to  have  a  capacity 
of  1,600  miner's  inches.  By  agreement  among  the  owners  the  Daggett 
ranch  is  entitled  to  the  first  200  miner's  inches  of  water  secured  and 
only  this  amount  has  been  developed.  An  area  of  250  acres  on  the 
ranch  is  all  that  is  irrigated  regularly  under  this  system.  Surface 
flood  water  in  the  river  reaching  the  intake  can  be  turned  into  the 
ditch  and  occasionally  some  additional  land  has  been  irrigated  in  this 
manner.  The  present  owners  claim  to  have  spent  $75,000  and  each  of 
the  two  companies  preceding  them  is  said  to  have  spent  a  larger  amount. 

Yermo  Mutual  Water  Company. 

This  system  was  initiated  in  1910  by  the  Mojave  River,  Land  and 
Water  Company  to  supply  water  to  about  8,000  acres  of  land  located 
north  of  Mojave  River  and  along  the  Los  Angeles  and  Salt  Lake  Rail- 


UTILIZATION   OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  25 

road  below  Yermo.  The  land  had  been  acquired  by  the  promoters  and 
was  to  be  sold  by  them,  but  in  constructing  a  part  of  the  system  they 
hirame  too  heavily  burdened,  with  indebtedness  to  continue.  The 
Yermo  Mutual  Water  Company,  a  reorganization  of  the  first  company, 
was  incorporated  in  1916,  with  $160,000  capital  stock,  to  continue  the 
work.  It  is  claimed  that  a  total  of  about  $200,000  has  been  spent,  of 
which  the  greater  part  was  under  the  first  company.  The  works  con- 
structed consist  of  five  16-inch  wells  over  400  feet  deep,  of  which  two 
are  equipped  with  12-inch  centrifugal  pumps  and  50-horsepower  engines, 
three  miles  of  concrete-lined  ditch  of  1,300  miner's  inches  capacity 
below  the  wells,  then  four  miles  of  ditch  of  3,300  miner's  inches  capacity, 
and  two  lateral  ditches.  It  is  the  intention  to  collect  underflow  from 
the  river  channel  and  to  convey  it  by  pipe  4,400  feet  to  the  point  of 
enlargement  in  the  ditch,  where  it  is  to  be  raised  to  the  grade  of  the 
ditch  by  pumping.  The  company  claims  that  250  miner's  inches  can 
now  be  delivered  from  the  two  pumped  wells  and  that  more  can  be 
delivered  when  the  settlement  demands  it  by  supplying  the  other  wells 
with  pumps.  The  water  is  lifted  from  50  to  60  feet.  Only  about  200 
acres  are  being  irrigated.  It  is  expected  that  alfalfa  and  deciduous 
fruits  will  be  grown  mainly.  The  enterprise  is  making  but  slow  growth 
owing  to  lack  of  settlers. 

Proposed  Enterprises  for  the  Use  of  Underflow. 

Several  enterprises  for  the  development  of  underflow  of  Mojave  River 
for  irrigation  have  been  proposed  which  have  not  progressed  further 
than  the  formality  of  a  stock  incorporation  and  the  filing  of  a  claim  on 
water  to  be  appropriated,  with  possibly  the  doing  of  a  nominal  amount 
of  work  with  the  intention  of  technically  establishing  a  right  to  use 
water  relating  to  the  date  of  the  claim.  The  amount  of  underground 
water  that  can  be  diverted  by  gravity  is  largely  a  matter  of  speculation. 
Success  in  pumping  from  wells  sunk  in  or  near  the  channel  at  favorable 
locations  is  more  certainly  demonstrated.  Numerous  plants  are  oper- 
ating near  Hicks.  Barstow,  Daggett  and  Minneola,  some  of  which  pro- 
duce good  streams  of  water  for  irrigating.  Several  land  owners  pump 
from  a  trench  near  the  river  at  Helen  and  they  claim  to  obtain  100 
miner's  indies  with  which  they  irrigate  160  acres  of  young  orchard. 


26  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

LAND  OWNERSHIP  AND  SETTLEMENT. 

The   territory   considered   iu   this   report   and  shown   by   the   map 
(Plate  I)  includes  gross  agricultural  areas  MS  follows: 


I     Acres     | 


Mojave  River  bottom  above  Victorville 12,000 

East  Mesa- 
Apple  Valley  32,000  . 

First  Bench 4,000 

East  of  Deadman's  Point 8,000 

44,000 

West  Mesa— 

Baldy  Mesa  and  Hesperia 100,000 

Sunrise  Valley \      70,000 

Mirage  Valley j      64,000 

Along  river  below  Victorville 35,000 

I 269,000 


Total j 325,000 

j . 

Of  this  total  12,000  acres  are  patented  unsold  railroad  grant  lands, 
47,000  are  selected  unpatented  railroad  indemnity  lands;  17,000  acres 
are,  or  were,  state  school  lands,  and  37,000  acres  are  in  control  of  the 
Appleton  Land,  Water  and  Power  Company,  the  Arrowhead  Reservoir 
and  Power  Company,  and  Rancho  Verde  Company,  leaving  212,000 
acres  of  public  land,  nearly  all  of  which  has  been  applied  for  under  the 
Homestead  and  Desert  Land  Acts. 

The  railroad  lands  are  owned  by  the  Southern  Pacific  and  the  grant 
relates  to  the  road  from  Mojave  through  Barstow  to  Colorado  River, 
now  controlled  and  operated  by  the  Santa  Fe,  but  which  was  built  by 
the  Southern  Pacific  about  1884.  The  line  through  Cajon  Pass  and 
Victor  Valley,  built  by  the  Santa  Fe  in  1885,  was  not  a  land  grant  road. 
The  original  grant  included  the  Southern  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific,  but  the  latter  did  not  build  across  Mojave  Desert  as  was  con- 
templated. The  portion  of  the  land  that  should  go  to  the  Southern 
Pacific  was  in  controversy  until  1898  when  it  was  decided  that  the  rail- 
road company  was  entitled  to  sections  numbered  1,  5,  9,  13,  17,  21,  25, 
27,  31  and  33  within  the  grant  limits.  The  southern  limit  of  the  20-mile 
strip  of  the  grant  crosses  Mojave  River  between  Oro  Grande  and  Victor- 
ville. The  southern  edge  of  the  indemnity  strip,  10  miles  wide  outside 
the  grant  limits  in  which  the  railroad  company  has  selected  some  of  the 
odd-numbered  sections,  crosses  the  river  between  Victorville  and 
Hesperia.  The  railroad  lands  have  not  been  on  the  market. 

Of  the  land  applied  for  under  the  national  laws,  the  greater  area  has 
been  under  the  Homestead  Act  and  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the 
homestead  entries  have  been  patented  than  of  the  desert  land  entries. 


UTILIZATION   OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  27 

The  Hesperia  Land  and  Water  Company,  soon  after  its  organization, 
cleared  some  of  its  land  of  brush  and  timber  and  sold  the  juniper  and 
yucca  for  wood.  About  this  time  many  homestead  filings  were  made 
and  the  entry  men  cut  the  timber  (Plate  VI,  Fig.  1)  and  sold  wood, 
hauling  it  to  Hesperia.  Soon  the  government  enforced  restrictions  on 
the  cutting  of  timber  on  homestead  entries  which  curtailed  this  practice 
and  some  of  the  entries  were  allowed  to  revert  to  the  government. 

Then  came  years  of  little  activity  until  the  present  decade  which 
brought  a  period  of  much  land  filing.  The  stimulus  of  the  national 
movement  for  arid  land  reclamation,  the  demonstration  of  the  feasibility 
of  pumping  south  of  the  mountains,  a  better  established  market  for 
apples  and  pears,  and  the  activities  of  speculators  were  all  influences 
in  the  rush  for  the  public  lands.  Although  the  orchard  was  generally 
regarded  as  the  future  chief  industry  of  the  region,  land  entries  were 
made  for  the  maximum  area  allowed  under  the  law  and  320-acre  desert 
entries  were  located  where  the  water  furnished  by  wells  is  inadequate 
and  where  pumping  is  too  expensive  for  reclamation  and  the  making 
of  final  proof. 

In  1913  many  of  the  settlers  and  land  entrymen  on  both  sides  of  the 
river  formed  the  Victor  Valley  Mutual  Water  and  Power  District  Asso- 
ciation to  secure  beneficial  measures,  the  chief  one  being  a  government 
irrigation  project.  This  association  was  unincorporated  and  member- 
ship was  voluntary.  The  members  were  assessed  on  the  acre  basis  to 
provide  funds  to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  organization.  The  association 
made  an  urgent  appeal  to  the  government  for  a  project  to  include  lands 
on  both  sides  of  the  river,  but  the  government,  although  in  sympathy 
with  the  end  sought,  was,  owing  to  the  depleted  condition  of  the  reclama- 
tion fund,  unable  to  render  financial  aid.  The  association  was  instru- 
mental in  securing  extensions  of  time  for  the  making  of  final  proof  on 
land  entries  pending  arrangements  for  an  irrigation  project  to  use  water 
from  Mojave  River,'  but  this  offered  temporary  relief  only. 

The  condition  confronting  many  land  entrymen  in  1915  was  discour- 
aging. Besides  the  final  proofs  to  be  made,  numerous  small  tracts  had 
been  planted  to  orchard  on  which  the  trees  would,  in  a  few  years,  need 
more  water  than  could  be  supplied  by  the  irrigation  facilities.  The 
total  area,  irrigated  in  Victor  Valley  is  about  7,740  acres,  of  which  only 
about  2.185  acres  are  on  the  mesas. 

Table  No.  1  gives  the  areas  irrigated  in  Victor  Valley  and  on  Mojave 
River.  The  areas  irrigated  from  the  river  are  close  approximations  and 
the  area  irrigated  from  wells  are  estimated  from  partial  data.  All 
ditches  down  to  and  including  the  Haws  and  Robinson  are  considered 
as  being  in  Victor  Valley. 


28  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

TABLE  No.  1. 
Area   Irrigated   on   Mojave   River  and   in  Victor  Valley. 


Area 
irrigated 
Division                                                                   from 
river 
(Acres)       ! 

irrigated 

wells 
(Acres) 

Total 

acres 

River  Bottom  and  First  Bench  of  East  Mesa                      1  655 

3900 

5555 

East  Mesa  and  Lucerne  Valley  Pass      —  _    . 

975 

975 

West  Mesa,  including  Mirage  Valley                            i          310 

900 

1,210 

Totals,  Victor  Valley           1965 

5775 

7740 

Lowlands                                                                                        1  130 

1  000 

2130 

Totals,  Mojave  River  3,095  i 

6,775 

9,870 

The  Smith  Act,  which  passed  congress  August  11,  1916,  making 
possible  the  inclusion  of  government  land  in  irrigation  districts  organ- 
ized under  the  laws  of  the  states  provided  such  districts  do  not  include 
a  majority  acreage  of  unentered  land,  opened  the  way  for  state  irriga- 
tion districts  in  Victor  Valley.  A  district  to  include  55,000  acres  on 
both  the  east  and  wrest  mesas  was  proposed  by  the  association,  but  the 
land  entrymen  on  the  east  mesa,  believing  that  an  independent  system 
for  their  lands  would  be  cheaper  per  acre  than  the  more  general  project, 
proceeded  to  secure  the  organization  of  the  Mojave  River  Irrigation 
District  for  the  east  side  only.  Soon  the  entrymen  on  the  west  mesa 
petitioned  for  the  formation  of  the  Victor  Valley  Irrigation  District  for 
the  west  side. 

One  of  the  main  obstacles  to  progress  is  the  large  size  of  the  land 
holdings.  A  majority  of  the  entrymen  can  not  finance  the  improvement 
of  160  and  320  acres  and  but  few  of  the  irrigated  tracts  on  the  mesas 
exceed  20  acres.  If  the  entries  were  limited  to  40  acres  the  chances  for 
successful  reclamation  would  be  better.  SmalL  tracts  planted  to  orchard 
would  give  more  profit  and  more  value  to  the  land  and  justify  more 
expense  for  water  than  larger  tracts  for  other  purposes.  At  the  same 
time  they  would  require  less  water  per  acre,  allow  a  larger  district  to  be 
irrigated  with  the  water  supply  and  make  the  cost  of  the  works  less 
burdensome.  No  disadvantage  would  be  imposed  on  the  actual  settler. 

MOJAVE  RIVER  IRRIGATION  DISTRICT. 

The  first  petition  for  the  organization  of  the  Mojave  River  Irrigation 
District  was  filed  with  the  board  of  supervisors  of  San  Bernardino 
County,  November  20,  1916.  The  board,  acting  on  the  advice  of  the 
state  engineer  and  being  uncertain  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  proposed 
works  and  the  security  that  could  be  offered  for  a  bond  issue,  denied  the 
petition  without  prejudice  and  arranged  for  an  investigation  of  the 
conditions  to  be  made  in  thirty  days,  intending  to  take  final  action  after 


UTILIZATION   OP    MOJAVE   RIVER.  29 

being  in  possession  of  facts  to  enable  a  more  intelligent  decision.  The 
petitioners  could  not,  according  to  law,  present  a  new  petition  until 
thirty  days  had  elapsed,  but  it  was  not  possible  for  the  commission  to 
make  the  necessary  investigations  in  that  time  and  the  petitioners  were 
unwilling'  to  wait  for  the  results.  A  new  petition  was  then  filed  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1917,  bearing  the  signatures  of  over  75  per  cent  of  the  land- 
owners in  the  proposed  district  which,  under  the  law,  made  it  obligatory 
on  the  part  of  the  supervisors  to  provide  for  the  organization  of  the 
district.  "When  submitted  to  the  voters  the  proposal  for  a  district 
carried  by  a  vote  of  40  for  and  none  against.  The  organization  was 
completed  April  9,  1917. 

The  district  embraces  27,055  acres,  of  which  26,874  acres  are  irrigable. 
On  November  23,  1917,  11,930  acres  were  patented,  7,120  acres  were 
railroad  selected  land  and  the  remaining  8,615  acres  were  practically 
all  entered,  75  per  cent  of  the  entered  land  being  under  the  Homestead 
Act.  It  was  originally  the  purpose  of  this  district  to  purchase  the  Forks 
reservoir  site  of  the  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company,  improve 
the  site  and  construct  a  conduit  12  miles  long  of  siphon,  tunnel  and  canal 
to  irrigate  the  greater  portion  of  the  district  by  gravity.  Water  would 
then  have  to  be  lifted  loo  feel  to  cover  the  upper  or  southern  portion  of 
the  district.  Later  the  plans  were  changed  and  the  district  is  now 
making  an  endeavor  to  combine  with  the  Appleton  Land,  "Water  and 
Power  Company  and  other  landowners  on  the  west  mesa  to  secure  the 
use  of  water  from  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir.  Toward  this  end  the 
district  filed  suit  October  5,  1917,  against  the  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and 
Power  Company,  and  a  trustee  of  stockholders  in  the  company  and  the 
holders  of  options  on  their  property,  to  condemn  their  entire  properties 
and  water  rights. 

VICTOR  VALLEY  IRRIGATION  DISTRICT. 

The  first  petition  for  the  Victor  Valley  Irrigation  District  was  filed 
May  2H,  1917.  The  action  and  the  reasons  for  the  action  taken  by  the 
supervisors  were  exactly  the  same  as  with  the  district  for  the  east  side, 
the  petition  being  denied  without  prejudice.  In  compliance  with  the 
law  a  second  petition  was  presented  August  3,  1917,  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  signatures  to  make  it  mandatory  for  the  supervisors  to  pro- 
vide for  the  organization.  At  the  election  44  ballots  \vere  cast  for  and 
none  against  the  organization,  and  the  district  was  declared  organized 
( )ctober  22,  1917. 

The  district  has  a  total  area  of  71,517  acres,  of  which  65,000  are 
believed  to  be  irrigable.  About  the  time  the  organization  was  completed 
the  boundary  included  the  following  classes  of  land :  patented  34,281 
acres,  railroad  selected  land  9,417  acres,  homestead  entries  9,456  acres, 


3.0  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

and  desert  entries  18,363  acres.     No  land  of  the  Appleton  Land,  Water 
and  Po\wr  Company  is  included. 

The  district  controls  three  options  to  purchase  all  or  parts  of  the 
properties  of  the  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company  and  of  a 
trustee  of  stockholders  in  the  company.  The  options  were  obtained 
October  6,  1916,  by  C.  F.  Guthridge  and  held  by  him  for  the  district  to 
be  organized.  It  was  provided  that  if  a  district  should  be  organized  in 
four  months  of  the  date  of  the  options  and  that  if  the  district  should 
take  steps  to  exercise  the  rigjit  of  purchase,  the  options  were  to 
extend  for  one  year,  or  to  October  6,  1917.  The  options  were  made 
assignable  to  the  district  only  and  were  not  to  be  further  assigned 
by  the  district.  By  agreement  of  October  3,  1917,  the  options  were 
extended  to  July  1,  1918,  and  on  October  22,  1917,  they  were  assigned 
by  Mr.  Guthridge  to  the  district.  The  options  are  as  follows : 

1.  For  Rancho  Las  Flores  and  the  agricultural  lands  below  Victorville 
owned  by  the  trustee  of  stockholders  of  the  company,  $750,000. 

2.  For  all  properties,  including  lands,  constructed  works,  water  rights, 
and  rights  of  way  of  the  company,  also  the  right  to  construct  a  dam  at 
the  Forks  site  and  to  flood  the  reservoir  basin  on  Rancho  Las  Flores 
owned  by  the  trustee,  $2,000,000. 

3.  For  all  properties  of  the  company  without  the  flooding  privilege 
on  Rancho  Las  Flores,  $1,750.000. 

It  is  proposed  to  exercise  both  the  first  and  third  options  and  under 
them  to  purchase  for  a  total  of  $2,500,000  all  the  properties  of  the 
company  and  the  trustee.  The  district  proposes  to  follow  one  of  two 
plans  or  a  combination  of  them  to  carry  water  to  the  west  mesa.  One 
is  for  the  completion  of  the  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir  (Plate  II, 
Fig.  1)  and  the  inlet  works,  and  the  construction  of  a  conduit  from  the 
outlet  of  the  reservoir  westward  across  the  West  Fork  of  Mojave  River 
and  to  the  west  mesa  which  would  cover  all  land  in  the  district  by 
gravity.  This  conduit  would  be  27  miles  long  and  would  consist  in 
part  of  tunnel  at  the  upper  end,  of  inverted  siphon  across  the  West 
Fork  and  of  concrete  pipe  towards  the  lower  end.  A  power  drop  of 
810  feet  would  be  utilized  at  the  approach  to  the  siphon. 

The  other  plan  is  to  complete  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir,  construct 
the  power  conduit  to  the  Forks,  improve  the  Forks  reservoir  site  and 
provide  for  lifting  the  water  discharged  from  this  reservoir  to  the  lands 
above  the  gravity  conduit. 

Under  a  combination  of  these  plans  only  a  part  of  the  water  in  the 
Little  Bear  reservoir  would  be  carried  directly  to  the  mesa  as  under 
the  first  plan,  and  the  remainder  would  be  dropped  to  the  Forks  reser- 
voir. Power  would  then  be  developed  on  both  outlets  of  the  Little  Bear 
reservoir  and  the  water  from  the  Forks  reservoir  would  be  used  on  the 
lower  lands  by  gravity. 


UTILIZATION   OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  31 

SOILS. 

The  soils  of  Victor  Valley  consist  of  the  materials  eroded  from  the 
mountains  and  redistributed  in  the  valley,  consequently  they  do  not 
differ  widely  in  composition  but  vary  more  in  their  relative  proportions 
of  sand  and  clay.  The  records  of  wells  drilled  indicate  that  an  enor- 
mous quantity  of  material  has  been  transported  to  the  plain.  The 
general  arrangement  of  coarse  material  near  the  mountains  outward  to 
line  in  the  lower  plain  is  not  so  noticeable  in  the  surface  soils  as  on  many 
alluvial  fans.  The  migratory  character  of  the  stream  channels  has  no 
doubt  disturbed  this  gradual  order  to  some  extent  and  the  winds  have 
also  added  to  the  complexity  by  transporting  fine  sand  and  dust. 

In  general,  the  higher  lauds  are  superior  to  the  lower.  That  part  of 
the  west  mesa  known  as  Baldy  Mesa,  situated  above  contour  3,400,  has 
more  rain,  less  wind,  more  even  temperature,  more  vegetation  and  better 
agricultural  soil  than  other  portions  of  either  mesa.  The  foothills  are 
covered  with  a  thick  growth  consisting  principally  of  scrub  oak,  man- 
y.aiiita  and  juniper,  the  latter  extruding  out  on  the  plain  two  or  three 
miles.  Creosote,  commonly  called  givasewood,  and  sage,  desert  shrubs, 
and  bunch  grass,  interpersed  with  giant  yucca  (Clistoyucca  arl)0- 
rescens),  are  distributed  over  the  entire  plain.  The  yucca,  sometimes 
called  the  Joshua  tree,  is  peculiar  to  this  desert  and  to  southern  Nevada, 
and  its  fantastic  appearance  lends  a  weird  picturesqueness  to  the  region 
(Plate  VI.  Fig.  1).  The  yucca  has  commercial  value  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  paper,  of  which  it  makes  a  good  grade  of  the  manilla  kind. 

No  comprehensive  soil  survey  has  been  made  of  Victor  Valley,  but  the 
reconnaissance  for  a  complete  survey  is  being  made  by  the  Bureau  of 
Soils,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  soils  of  both 
mesas  are  well  adapted  to  agricultural  purposes. 

For  the  purpose  of  studying  the  moisture  requirements  of  the  soils, 
borings  were  made  on  selected  parts  of  the  mesas  to  depths  of  6  feet  or 
more  and  soil  samples  were  taken  at  each  foot  in  depth.  The  samples 
were  also  used  to  test  some  other  properties  of  the  soils. 

Analyses  for  alkali  content  were  made  of  the  first  foot  of  soil  from 
different  parts  of  the  mesas.  All  indicated  freedom  from  injurious 
amounts  of  salts.  No  analyses  were  made  of  the  subsoils,  but  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  limited  amount  of  water  for  irrigation  in  proportion 
to  the  irrigable  land  will  operate  to  make  the  use  of  water  economical, 
it  is  probable  that  the  ground  water  level  will  never  be  raised  sufficiently 
to  bring  salts  in  solution  to  an  accumulation  at  the  surface. 

Occurring  on  the  surface  and  in  the  substrata  at  different  points  in 
the  valley  are  soils  containing  some  carbonate  of  lime  which  cements 
together  the  materials  into  a  hardpan.  It  is  probable  that  this  hardpan 
will  be  softened  when  there  is  irrigation. 


32  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

Soil  was  encountered  in  a  number  of  test  holes  which  was  coarse  yet 
hard  and  seemingly  impervious.  This  appeared  to  consist  of  angular 
grains  closely  packed  and  held  by  clay  particles.  This  soil  is  easily 
crushed  and  melts  or  softens  in  water  without  becoming  plastic.  This 
type  of  soil  is  found  in  rather  large  areas  on  the  east  mesa,  but  to  a  less 
extent  on  the  west  mesa,  and  this  'probably  accounts  for  a  prevailing 
exaggerated  idea  that  the  soils  on  the  east  mesa  are  mnch  heavier  than 
those  on  the  west  mesa.  They  are  in  general  some  heavier  but  the  effect 
of  this  characteristic  should  be  to  some  degree  overcome  by  the  applica- 
tion of  water. 

Table  No.  2  shows  the  amount  of  organic  matter  in  the  surface  soil 
from  the  different  parts  of  the  valley.  The  organic  matter  was  calcu- 
lated at  58  per  cent  of  the  total  carbon  which  was  quantitatively 
determined. 

TABLE   No.  2. 


Valley. 

Number  of 
test  hole... 

Kind  of  Held 

Location 

j  Per  cent 
of  total 
carbon 

Per  cent 
of  or- 
ganic 
matter 

1 

2-year  orchard 

SW.  cor.,  NW.  J,  Sec.  6,  T.  4  N.,  R.  2  W  

.1260 

.2172 

2      5-year  orchard 

SW.  \,  NW.  i  SW.  i  Sec.  9,  T.  4  N.,  R.  3  W..._      .1266 

.2172 

6     12-year  orchard 

SW.i  SW.  J,  Sec.  30,  T.  5  N.,  R.  3  W  

.      .1290 

.2224 

7     12-year  alfalfa 

NW.  J,  SE.  },  SW.  J,  Sec.  30,  T.  5  N.,  R.  3  W.. 

.      .1455 

.2508 

12      3-year  orchard 

NE.  cor.,  SW.  i  NW.  J,  Sec.  8,  T.  5  N.,  R.  3  W 

.       .1365 

.2353 

15  I    5-year  orchard 

Center,  SE.  J,  Sec.  23,  T.  5  N.,  R.  3  W  

.    1.6380 

2.8270 

16       3-vear  orchard 

NE.  i  NE.  J,  Sec.  24  T  4  N    R  6  W 

3075 

5301 

18 

1-year  orchard 

SE.  cor.,  NE.  \,  Sec.  22,  T.  4  N.,  R.  5  W. 

.1500 

.2586 

21 

11-year  orchard 

NE.  cor.,  SE.  J,  Sec.  21,  T.  5  N..  R,  5  W  

_      .0795 

.1370 

22 

3-year  orchard 

NE.  cor.,  NW.  J,  SE.  \,  Sec.  22,  T.  5  N.,  R,  6  W 

.  <     .1005 

.1733 

Excepting  the  sample  from  test  hole  No.  15,  which  was  on  sub- 
irrigated  river  bottom  land,  the  soils  are  deficient  in  organic  matter. 
This  lack  may  be  overcome  to  some  extent  by  the  growing  of  cover  crops 
which  supply  humus  to  the  soil,  but  such  crops  require  some  water  for 
their  irrigation  in  addition  to  that  required  by  the  main  crop. 

No  mechanical  analyses  were  made  of  the  soils,  but  the  wilting 
percentage  was  determined,  and  it  is  a  measure  of  the  texture  or  fine- 
ness of  particle,  the  perviousness  or  degree  to  which  it  facilitates  the 
passage  of  moisture  and  the  porosity  or  the  capacity  to  hold  wrater.  The 
finer  the  soil  particles  the  "heavier"  the  soil,  the  higher  the  wilting  per- 
centage, the  greater  the  quantity  of  water  the  soil  must  contain  to 
support  plant  growth,  the  greater  the  capacity  to  hold  water  and  the 
slower  the  movement  of  water  in  the  soil.  Although  the  rate  of  move- 
ment is  slower,  the  final  reach  of  capillarity  is  farther  in  the  heavy  soils 


rrn.i/ATioN  OF  MO.TAVE  RIVER. 


33 


than  in  the  lighter  soils.  The  loss  of  moisture  by  evaporation  should 
be  uivjitrr  from  the  finer  textured  soils. 

The  tests  to  determine  the  amount  of  moisture  that  should  he  main- 
tained in  the  soils  to  sustain  plant  growth  are  useful  in  comparing  the 
two  mesas  as  to  their  relative  requirements  of  water.  This  study  was 
made  according  to  the  method  developed  and  used  by  the  Bureau  of 
Plant  Industry  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  The 
purpose  was  to  determine  what  is  designated  as  the  wilting  percentage 
of  the  soils.  This  term  is  expressed  in  percentage  by  \veight  on  the  basis 
of  the  weight  of  the  dry  soil  and  it  may  be  defined  as  the  percentage 
of  moisture  in  the  soil  below  which,  if  the  moisture  drops,  the  plants 
will  wilt.  It  has  been  determined  by  experiment  that  the  finer  the 
texture  of  the  soil  the  greater  the  percentage  of  this  unavailable  mois- 
ture. It  is  apparent  that  for  good  plant  growth  and  profitable  crop 
production  the  moisture  should  not  be  allowed  to  fall  below  the  wilting 
percentage  during  the  growing  season.  The  wilting  percentage,  if  mul- 
tiplied by  1.^4.  gives  whal  is  known  as  the  moisture  equivalent.  The 
percentage  of  moisture  which  corresponds  to  this  is  that  usually  found 
in  the  soil  after  an  irrigation  and  probably  may  be  considered  an 
optimum. 

Tables  No.  3  and  No.  4  give  the  wilting  percentages  and  the  moisture 
equivalents  for  soils  tested  from  the  east  and  west  mesas.  The  amounts 
of  water  necessary  in  the  soil  to  prevent  wilting  of  plants  and  to  satisfy 
the  moisture  equivalent  shown  in  the  two  last  columns  \vere  calculated 
on  the  basis  of  an  assumed  volume  weight  of  soil  of  90  pounds  per 
cubic  foot. 

TABLE   No.  3. 
Wilting    Percentages   and    Moisture    Equivalents   for   Six    Feet   of  Soil   on    East    Mesa. 


V. 

la 

-Location 

3533?     1     mS« 

™<-  !  fflk' 

i    percent 

Acre  feet 
per  acre 
to 
prevent 
wilting 

Acre  feet 
per  acre 
for 
moisture 
equiva- 
lent 

i 

2 
8 

6 

SW.  cor..  XW.  i  Sec.  6,  T.  4  N.,  R.  2  W  

SW.  ;.  XW.  i,  SW.  J,  Sec.  9,  T.  4  N.,  R.  3  W— 
SW.  \.  NW.  1,  SW.  J,  Sec.  9,  T.  4  N.,  R.  3  W... 
SW  1  SW  5  Sec  30  T  5  N.  R.  3  W. 

5.4            9.8 
6.1           11.1 
3.6            6.6 
8.6           15.8 

.462 

.   .521 
.309 
.743 

.846 

.959 
.570 
1.145 

11 
12 

13 

\  [ 

SE.  cor.,  Sec.  22,  T.  5  N.,  R.  3  W  
NE.  cor.,  SW7.  J,  XW.  \  Sec.  8,  T.  5  N.,  R.  3  W. 
SE.  cor.,  SW.  i  XW.  i,  Sec.  8,  T.  5  N.,  R.  3  W. 
SW  3  SW  \  Sec  33  T  5  N  R  3  W 

3.0            5.5 
7.2           13.0 
9.6  1        17.7 
4.3            8.0 

.258 
.617 
.838 
.374 

.474 
1.124 
1.529 
.691 

Average 

6.0  '•        10.9 

.515 

.917 

34 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


TABLE    No.   4. 
Wilting    Percentages   and    Moisture    Equivalents  for   Six    Feet   of  Soil    on    West    Mesa. 


Number  of 
test  hole,. 

Location 

Av<si--ige 

wilting 

Average     '   Acre  feet 
moisture        per  acie 

Acre  feet 
per  acre 

per  cent          wilting 

lent 

16 
17 
18 
19 
21 
22 
24 
25 

NE.  |,  NE.  i  See.  24,  T.  4  N.,  R.  6  W  
SW  cor.,  SW.  i  Sec.  18,  T.  4  N.,  R.  5  W. 

6.1 
4.4 
5.8 
6.3 
8.1 
8.1 

5.2 
8.0 

11.1 

8.1) 
10.6 
11.5 
5.8 
155 
9.6 

9.6 

.522 
.377 
.497 
.542 
.272 
.710 
.464 
.261 

.959 
.691 
.914 
.994 
.497 
1.322 
.838 
.474 

SE.  cor.,  NE.  \,  Sec.  22,  T.  4  N.,  R.  5  W  
SE.cor.,  NW.i  Sec.  22,  T.  5  N.,  R,  5  W  
NE.  cor.,  SE.i,  Sec.  21,  T.  5  N.,  R.  5  W  
NE.  cor.,  XW.  J,  SE.  i  Sec.  22,  T.  5  N.,  R.  6  W. 
SW.  cor.,  NW.  i,  Sec.  4,  T.  5  N.,  R.  6  W  
SK  cor.,  XE.  \,  Sec.  23,  T.  6  N.,  R.  7  W. 

Average 

5.3 

.456  !         .836 

In  sampling  it  was  noticed  that  in  all  except  No.  14,  which  was  in  an 
unirrigated  orchard  on  Baldy  Mesa,  the  soil  was  dry  below  the  third 
or  fourth  foot. 

The  test  for  the  first  6  feet  of  soil  in  eight  holes  on  the  east  mesa 
gave  wilting  percentages  ranging  from  3.0  to  9.6  per  cent,  with  an 
average  of  6.0  per  cent,  Similar  tests  for  eight  holes  on  the  west  mesa 
gave  wilting  percentages  ranging  from  3.0  to  8.1  per  cent  with  an 
average  of  5.3  per  cent.  The  number  of  acre-feet  of  water  per  acre  that 
would  have  to  be  put  into  the  upper  6  feet  of  soil  on  the  east  mesa  to 
produce  a  moisture  percentage  above  the  wilting  point  is  .52,  and  the 
number  of  acre-feet  to  produce  the  same  result  on  the  west  mesa  is  .46. 
It  is  assumed  that  a  depth  of  6  feet  of  soil  is  sufficient  for  the  penetration 
of  roots  of  deciduous  fruit  trees.  The  surface  soil  on  the  east  mesa  in 
considerable  areas  is  "heavier"  than  that  on  the  west  mesa  where  the 
"heavier"  textured  soil  is  more  in  spots.  This  theoretical  comparison 
indicates  that  the  soils  of  the  east  mesa  would  require  but  slightly  more 
water  than  those  of  the  west  mesa. 

These  results  do  not  show  the  duty  of  water  nor  give  data  from  which 
the  duty  of  water  may  be  determined.  They  merely  compare  the  soils 
as  to  moisture  requirements.  They  do  not  show  how  rapidly  the 
moisture,  if  once  supplied,  would  be  depleted  by  the  action  of  nature 
nor  how  frequently  and  in  what  amounts  water  would  have  to  be  sup- 
plied to  maintain  the  required  moisture  percentages.  These  studies  take 
account  of  soils  only  and  do  not  give  consideration  to  other  important 
factors  affecting  duty  of  water. 

CLIMATE. 

In  a  study  of  duty  of  water  due  consideration  must  be  given  to 
elevation  and  topoerahpy  as  affecting  precipitation,  temperature  and 
wind  as  affecting  evaporation,  and  to  the  possibility  of  deep  percolation. 


UTILIZATION   OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  35 

Table  No.  5  gives  the  maximum  and  minimum  temperatures  recorded 
?».t  tlie  ranch  of  I))-.  (I.  W.  Dobie,  centrally  located  on  tlie  west  mesa. 

TABLE    No.   5. 
Temperatures   in    Degrees   Fahrenheit  at   Dobie   Ranch,  Victor  Valley. 


1909              19 

%       z    •  Z 

='       5°       5" 

10 

a 

12 
30 
34 
38 
42 
46 
54 
50 
34 
26 
24 

IS 

60 

84 

84 
86 
106 
106 
107 
102 
78 
74 
64 

11 

j 

Hi 
19 
24 
24 
35 
42 
52 
50 
43 
86 
16 
14 

19 
f 

68 
68 
67 
78 
92 
106 
106 
103 
oc 

1 

.'. 

IS 

29 
29 
38 

42 
46 
50 
40 

jj 

P       P 

11       j       19 

1  i 

15                1! 

5'  £T 

r, 
g 

.January    
February 
March 

li<>      '2('}      (ill 
-52     «5~    S! 
89b   38     <i| 
98     40   109 
106     47.  105 
111     49   108 
102  i  52   1G6 
102     40   100 
83  i  44     91 
76     30     78 
67     12    68 

64 
67 
85 
93 
97 

too 

IIIS 

106 

98 
86 
74 
60 

12 

L'l 

20 
82 

28 
40 

50 

so 

38 
28 
22 
20 

66 
64 
76 

82 
97 
106 
106 
110 
96 
86 
72 
50 

22  jj  58 
26     62 
311      71 
33     86 
38  ;  98 
105 

24     65 
28     75 
HI     SS 
30     91 
40     96 
42   109 
103 

18 
19 
30 
39 
36 
40 
47 

April 

May 

June     

-Inly    

August    _.  . 

.—.106 
—•102 

._..!:  94 
22     89 
16     70 

61 

September 

42 

October    

40 

November    
December 

70  !  30 

i  58      14 

18  i 

18  66 

16 

The  highest  temperature  in  the  foregoing  table  is  111°  which  occurred 
in  July.  The  lowest,  12°,  occurred  several  times  in  the  months  of 
December,  January  and  February.  The  lower  parts  of  the  valley  have 
greater  and  the  higher  parts  less  extremes  of  temperature.  The  mini- 
mum winter  temperature  at  Victorville  has  fallen  below  zero  on 
occasions. 

The  annual  rainfall  in  Victor  Valley  varies  from  about  15  inches  at 
the  foothills  to  about  5  inches  at  Victorville.  The  clouds  come  from  the 
south  or  southwest  and  they  enter  the  valley  through  Cajon  Pass  and  by 
crossing  over  the  mountains  on  either  side  of  the  pass.  They  are  some- 
times turned  westward  from  Cajon  Pass  and  this  probably  accounts  for  a 
precipitation  on  JJaldy  Mesa  that  is  greater  than  Avould  be  accounted  for 
by  elevation  alone.  Generally  an  annual  rainfall  of  8  or  9  inches  is 
required  to  satisfy  the  immediate  surface  rim-off  and  the  evaporation 
from  the  soil  and  the  precipitation  must  generally  exceedjjjis  amount 
for  any  considerable  quantity  of  moisture  to  be  retained  in  the  soil  long 
enough  to  produce  other  than  characteristic  desert  vegetation.  This 
appears  to  hold  true  for  this  locality  where  the  greater  precipitation  on 
Baldy  Mesa  produces  the  heavier  and  more  varied  plant  forms  of  the 
Juniper  belt. 

Table  No.  6  gives  the  only  measurements  of  precipitation  that  have 
been  kept  long  enough  to  be  of  value. 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


TABLE    No.   6. 


Precipitation    in   Victor  Valley. 


Season 

Forks, 
'    elevation 
H.OOO  feet 
(Inches) 

Hesperia, 
elevation 
3.190  feet 
(Inches) 

Dobie 
Ranch, 

elevation 
3.130  feet 
(Inches) 

Uancho 
Verde, 
elevation 

2.760  feet 
(Inches) 

Victorville, 
elevation 

2.726  feet 
(Inches) 

Barstow, 
elevation 

2,l.r)0  feet 
(Inches) 

1904-1905 

12.42 

6.70 

5.90 

1905-1906  

.    _-_          14.94 

4.78 

6.71 

5.89 

1.80 

1906-1907 

25.77 

13.44 

10.72 

8.61 

1907-1908 

914 

933 

628 

575 

703 

1908-1909 

9.94 

5.21 

3.35 

5.19 

4.94 

4.81 

1909-1910  —    

17.14 

8.99 

2.85 

fi.lfi 

4,17 

1.16 

1910-1911 

11  75 

891 

'-'  90 

1911-1912 

I!  77 

5  82 

3.31 

1912-1913      _. 

3.50 

2.72 

. 

1913-1914 

676 

727 

1914-1915 

6.91 

1915-1916 

J 

340 

Average 

1475 

891 

430 

6.29 

5.06 

4.27 

Number  of  seasoi 

is  i              6 

i              7 

;           8 

9 

7 

7 

The  variation  in  animal  precipitation  at  the  several  stations  is 
graphically  shown  by  the  diagram  Fig.  1. 

Unfortunately  no  records  of  rainfall  have  been  kept  for  periods  of 
several  years  on  the  east  mesa  but  such  meagre  records  as  are  available 
indicate  the  rainfall  to  be  less  than  on  the  west  mesa.  This  difference 
has  been  observed  by  residents  of  the  valley  and  it  is  also  shown  by 
the  vegetation. 

Almost  no  rain  falls  in  June  and  July  and  about  75  per  cent  of  the 
total  annual  precipitation  occurs  in  December  to  April,  inclusive. 
Some  snow  falls  in  winter,  especially  on  the  upper  slopes  of  the  plain. 
The  monthly  distribution  of  the  annual  precipitation  at  the  Dobie 

Ranch  is  shown  by  Table  No.  7,  also  by  the  diagram  Fig.  2. 

* 

TABLE   No.   7. 
Monthly  Precipitation   at   Dobie   Ranch. 


1912-13  '  1913-14  I  191 
(Inches),  (Inches)  (In 


(Inches)  (Inches)  (Ir 
1909-10  j  191U-11  19. 


July          .. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

.30 

0 

.04 

August 

90 

05 

0 

0 

13 

o 

o 

13 

September 

.40 

0 

0 

1.74 

1.01 

0 

0 

0-1 

.39 

October 

76 

o 

o 

10 

••-     0 

36 

Q 

.15 

November    ._      

0 

.15 

.10 

0 

.18  ^ 

.67 

.22 

10 

.18 

December 

.38 

1  18 

03 

15 

0* 

.08 

2.23 

.22 

.53 

January  

.60 

.32 

1.38  i 

0 

.87 

3.17 

1.19 

2.56 

1.26 

February 

.20 

0 

1.48  ! 

0 

1.26 

1.03 

2.18 

.36 

.81 

March   .... 

1.01 

.30 

.61 

1.48 

.08 

.05 

.07 

.05 

.46 

April 

0 

0 

18 

.30 

0 

1.23 

.40 

0 

.26 

May 

0 

0 

01 

o 

0 

.10 

.26 

.11 

06 

June 

0 

o 

0 

o 

.10 

0 

0 

0 

.01 

Season   _. 

3.35 

2.85 

3.84 

3.77  ! 

3.50 

6.76 

6.91 

3.40  | 

4.27 

UTILIZATION   OP    MOJAVE   RIVER. 


1904-5      1905-6       1906-7      1907-8      1908-9      1909-10     I9IQ-II      I9INZ      1912-13     -1913-14     1914-15      1915-16 


Fig.   1.— Diag 


comparison  of  annual  precipitation  at  stations   in   Victor  Valley. 


47222 


:',s 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IX    CALIFORNIA. 


SEPT. 


FEB.      MAR       APR       MAY     JUNE 


Fig.  2.— Di 


mean  monthly  precipitation  at  Dobie  Ranch. 


This  is  a  region  of  much  wind.  The  prevailing  direction  is  from 
south  of  west.  The  Baldy  Mesa  is  most  free  from  wind.  The  stronger 
air  currents  occur  more  frequently  in  the  spring.  The  winds,  together 
with  the  dry  atmosphere,  should  produce  high  evaporation  losses  from 
either  water  surfaces  or  wetted  soils.  The  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Los  Angeles  Board  of  Water  Commissioners  gives  the  evaporation  from 
a  water  surface  in  this  section  at  56.40  inches  for  June  to  December, 
inclusive,  1898,  and  an  estimate  of  86.55  inches  is  given  for  the  entire 
year.  The  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company  has  found  the 
evaporation  from  Little  Bear  Valley  Reservoir  in  the  mountains  to  be 
from  30  to  36  inches  per  annum.  A  comparison  of  these  records  shows 
the  effect  of  the  desert  atmosphere,  temperatures  and  winds  on 
evaporation. 

DUTY  OF  WATER. 

An  advantage  is  to  be  gained  by  selecting  crops  such  as  apples  and 
pears  that  are  not  only  suited  to  soil  and  climate  of  Victor  Valley,  but 
which  also  have  high  commercial  value  and  require  little  water.  It  is,  in 
fact,  imperative  that  the  greater  part  of  the  land  to  be  under  any  irriga- 
tion system  on  either  mesa  grow  crops  that  permit  both  a  high  duty  of 
water  and  a  high  cost  of  irrigation  per  acre  in  order  that  the  project 
be  financially  feasible.  It  is  assumed  that  a  small  portion  of  the  land 
would  produce  alfalfa  and  vegetables  but  the  proportion  of  these  should 


UTILIZATION   OF   MOJAVE   RIVER.  39 

not  be  large.  Alfalfa  in  this  region  would  require  more  than  double  the 
amount  of  water  required  by  deciduous  fruits  and  the  area  served  by 
the  water  available  if  planted  to  alfalfa  would  then  be  less  than  half 
the  area  that  could  be  served  if  planted  to  orchard.  Finally,  the  cost 
per  acre  of  the  works  for  alfalfa  would  practically  be  double  that  for 
orchard  for  the  cost  of  the  distributing  system  on  the  mesa  would  be 
small  in  proportion  to  that  of  the  mountain  works  which  latter  cost 
would  be  the  same  in  either  case. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  systematically  collect  information  on  the 
duty  of  water  for  alfalfa  for  this  report  as  was  done  for  duty  for 
deciduous  fruits,  but  opportunity  was  given  in  the  course  of  the  investi- 
gation to  obtain  some  miscellaneous  data  which  are  presented  for  what 
they  are  worth  in  Table  No.  8. 

TABLE    No.  8. 
Duty  of  Water  for  Alfalfa. 


*f 

Locality                                                             Acres 

Acre  feet 

!    Acre  feet 
j     per  acre 

| 

1     .Mojave  River  bottom  __  _                60 

960.00 

16.00 

"      Moiavc  River  bottom                                                              66 

104082 

15.77 

::      Kast  Mesa          -          „           „                .._..             40 

274.40 

6.89 

1     West  Mesa                                                                    '              5 

6.20 

1.24 

r>     West   Mesa   ...     .  J             25 

100.00 

4.07 

6     Lucerne  Valley                                                                       18 

39.60 

2.20 

7     Lucerne  Valley                                                                       40 

109.20 

2.73 

8     Lucerne  Valley                                                                       17 

46.24 

2.72 

9     Pern's  Valley                                                                          75 

421.50 

5.62 

10     Pern's  Valley                     -                                                     50 

303.50 

6.07 

11      Ferris  Valley                                                                              30 

191.70 

6.39 

1'J     Pern's   Valley   .    50 

275.00 

5.50 

Totals  and  average..     ..  .  J            476 

3,768.16 

7.92 

The  average  7.92  acre  feet  per  acre  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  total 
number  of  acre  feet,  3,768.16,  by  the  total  number  of  acres,  476,  which 
gives  weight  in  the  average  to  the  several  tracts  according  to  area. 
Eliminating  tracts  numbers  1  and  2,  which  are  in  the  river  bottom 
where  the  soil  is  sandy  and  the  water  plentiful  and  cheaply  applied,  the 
average  is  5.72  acre  feet  per  acre  which  amount  is  believed  more  than 
is  necessary  for  alfalfa  in  Victor  Valley. 

A  better  idea  of  the  amount  of  water  required  for  irrigating  alfalfa 
may  be  had  from  consideration  of  two  of  the  larger  alfalfa  growing 
sections  of  southern  California,  Imperial  Valley  and  Chino,  the  one 
more  arid  and  the  other  less  arid  than  Victor  Valley.  The  water  used 
in  Imperial  Valley  flows  by  gravity  from  Colorado  River  and  is  plenti- 
ful and  cheap.  That  used  at  Chino  is  pumped  from  wells  with  lifts  up 


40  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

to  125  feet  and  is  expensive.  The  fields  in  Imperial  Valley  are  flooded 
by  the  border  check  method  and  those  at  Chino  are  flooded  by  surface 
pipe.  The  duty  of  water  for  alfalfa  in  these  localities  is  shown  by  Table 
No.  9. 

TABLE    No.  9. 
Duty  of  Water  for  Alfalfa  in  Imperial  Valley  and  at  Chino. 


Imperial 

Locality 

Valley 

Number 
of 
crops 

8 

Rainfall 
in  acre  feet 
per  acre 

Irrigation 
in  acre  feet 
per  acre 

4.00 

Total  vvatei 
in  acre  feet 
per  acre 

|    Irrigation 
per  crop 
1  in  acre  feet 
j      per  acre 

.50 

Total  water 
per  crop 
in  acre  feet 
per  acre 

.53 

Chino  .. 

6 

tl 

2.50 

3.75 

.62 

3.25  !          4.00  !  .50 


lrriie  first  crop  at  Chino  is  unirrigated. 

Four  crops  and  sometimes  a  light  or  partial  fifth  crop  of  alfalfa  are 
cut  per  annum  in  Victor  Valley.  If  .5  foot  in  depth  of  water  be  applied 
to  produce  each  crop  the  total  amount  that  would  be  required  is  2  or  2.5 
acre  feet  per  acre. 

Apple  and  pear  orchards  in  Victor  Valley  have  generally  been  irri- 
gated four  times  per  annum,  the  first  being  in  April  or  May  and  the 
last  in  October.  In  some  cases  a  fifth  irrigation  has  been  given  in 
November.  Most  of  the  orchards  appear  to  have  had  insufficient  water 
and  it  is  probable  that  under  an  efficient  irrigation  system  the  practice 
would  be  to  give  five  irrigations,  unless  rain  is  plentiful  in  the  first  half 
of  the  wrinter. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  a  proper  duty  of  water  for  deciduous  fruits 
data  were  obtained  on  the  use  of  water  on  all  orchards  in  Victor  Valley 
where  the  amount  applied  was  measured  or  where  records  of  value  were 
kept.  Data  were  also  secured  on  orchards  in  other  sections  of  southern 
California  where  somewhat  similar  conditions  obtain.  The  elevation 
and  climate  of  the  settlements  on  the  north  side  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
range,  including  Victor  Valley,  closely  resemble.  Some  of  those  on  the 
south  side  differ  more  from  Victor  Valley  in  certain  respects  as  with 
reference  to  precipitation  at  Beaumont  and  Yucaipa  and  to  plentiful 
water  supply  at  Banning,  but  they  are  in  general  comparable.  Other 
things  being  equal,  records  from  Victor  Valley  should  be  given  more 
weight  than  records  from  other  sections,  and  data  on  mature  orchards 
more  truly  indicate  the  amount  of  water  that  would  eventually  be 
required  on  the  mesa,  but,  unfortunately,  there  are  as  yet  only  a  few 
producing  orchards  in  Victor  Valley,  so  that  the  records  from  the 
greater  number  of  older  orchards  in  the  other  deciduous  fruit  sections 
must  be  relied  upon  to  a  large  extent. 


UTILIZATION    OF    MOJAVE   RIVER. 


41 


The  results  for  each  of  the  localities  investigated  are  given  in  the 
following  tables.  The  average  duty  of  water  in  acre-feet  per  acre  for 
each  locality  is  determined  from  the  total  number  of  acres  and  the  total 
amount  of  water  applied,  thereby  giving  weight  according  to  acreage  in 
making  the  average. 

TABLE   No.   10. 

Mojave  River  Bottom. 

Duty   of   Water  for   Deciduous   Orchards.     Mojave   River   Bottom. 


Norn- 

bei 

of 


Kind  of  orchard 


Acre  feet 
pef  acra 


Apples 
Pears  _ 


38.25 
11.88 


2.55 
1.98 


Total 


<i   average. 


50.13 


tract 

Kind  of  orchard 

Age  of       j 
trees 

Acres 

Aore 
feet 

Acre  feet 
per  acre 

3 

4 

(i 

g 
9 
10 

Apples 
Apples 
Apples 
Apples 
Apples 
Apples 
Apples 
Apples 

Tot 

1 

12  1 

3    ! 

3-5 
4 

4 
1-2 
1-2 
3 

30 
140 
75 
75 
40 
54 
40 
56 

171.60 
61.60 
62.25 
123.75 
28.00 
71.80 
39.60 
39.76 

5.72 
.44 
.83 
1.65 
.70 
1.23 
.99 
.71 

and 
and 
and 
and 
and 
and 

als 

pears 

pears 

pears 

pears 

cherries  .  .  .  . 

510 

598.36              1.17 

West  Mesa. 


Num- 

of 

Kind  of  orchard 

trees 

tract 

Apples 

Apples 

Apples 

Apples 

Apples '_—. 

Apples 

Apples 

Apples  and  pears 

Apples 

Apples 

Pears  


20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
4 

1-6 
3 
4 


8.10 
2.88 
12.36 
18.20 
29.80 
6.90 
2.00 
28.60 
8.80 
4.40 
8.80 


.81 
.36 

1.03 
.91 

1.49 
.23 
.20 
.52 
.22 


Totals  and  average. 


265 


130.84 


.49 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 
Lucerne  Valley. 


Num- 
tract 

Kind  of  orchard                                          tf| 

of               .                       Acre         j    Acre  feet 
es                                      feet             per  acre 

22 
23 
24 

Apples 

3                 8            2.48                .31 
3               20           16.60                .83 
2               40           40.80              1.02 

Apples  and  pears 

Pears       - 

Totals  and  average-  __      .   . 

68           59.88                .88 

Yucaipa. 

Num- 
ber 
of 
tract 

Kind  of  orchard                                          tfe 

of               .                       Acre             Acre  feet 
es                                        feet              per  acre 

25 
26 

27 
28 

Peaches 

10                 6           17.34              2.89 
&-12                 ::             8.67  :            2.89 
4  !             ID            3.60                .36 
1-20                20           35.60  '            1.78 

39           65.21              1.67 

Apples    -          

Apples 

Apples,  cherries,  pears 

Totals  and  average 

San  Timeteo  Canyon. 

Num- 
ber 

tract 

Kind  of  orchard                                        *„ 

of       !                               Acre            Acre  feet 
es         :       Acres                feet              per  acre 

29' 
30 

Peaches 

6               20            7.20                .36 
20               15             7.20  !              .48 

Apricots 

Totals  and  average 

35           14.40  '              41 

Perris  Valley. 

Num- 
ber 
of 

tnirl 

Kind  of  orchard                                          jre 

• 

"f               A"<*                 "r\"r              'i"e;u'n. 

31 
32 
33 

Apricots 

1               10            4.20                .42 
3               10            6.80                .68 
1                10  1          9.40                .91 

Apricots 

Apricots 

Totals  and  average 

30           20.40                .68 

UTILIZATION   OP    MOJAVE   RIVER. 
Beaumont. 


Num- 
ber 
of 
tract 

34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
JO 
41 
42 
43 
44 
4o 

Kind  of  orchard                                        ''trees''       1      Acres 

1 

Acre             Acre  feet 
feet              per  acre 

Apple? 
Apples 
Apples, 
Apples 
Apples, 
Ap].  Irs 

Apples 

Clicrrie 
Apples 
Apples 
Apples, 
Apples 

Tot 

4  7 

LOO          42.00                .42 
10            3.60                .36 
.  8            2.88                .36 
5            2.40  ;             .48 
5            1.20                .24 
5            1.80                .36 
11            2.42  l             .22 
5            1.20                .24 
5            1.80                .36 
5            1.80                .36 
5              .85                .17 
8            3.60                .45 

3-6 

peaches,  pears  5-8 

1                5  : 

pears,  cherries        5  i 

.     ._.      _.!               7 

and  cherries  '              ? 
«.  pears,  apples,  peaches  5 
-----                                         5 

5 

pears,  peaches,  cherries                       7 

3 

als  and  average 

72           6-5.55                .38 

Banning. 


.Num- 
ber 
of 
trad 

Kind  of  orchard 

Age  of 
trees 

Acres 

Acre 
feet 

Acre  feet 
per  acre 

46 

Apricots   and  almonds                         1 

Over  5 

15 

1605 

1  07 

47 

Apricots,  peaches,  almonds 

25 

20 

31  80 

1  59 

48 

Apricots  and  peaches 

8 

15 

^70 

198 

49 

Apricots   peaches   almonds 

6-9 

20 

1200 

60 

50 

Apricots 

5 

8 

19  68 

246 

51 

Apricots 

20 

10 

1980 

1  98 

•V-' 
52 

Peaches,  prunes,  apricots,  almonds,  i 
Peaches  and  almonds- 

15 
8-20 

10 
40 

23.80 
95.20 

2.38 
2.38 

Totals  and  average                       ' 

138 

248.03 

1.80 

Summary. 

Locality 

Number  of 
orchards 

Total 

acres 

Total 
acre  feet 

Acie  feet 
per  acre 

2 

8 
11 
3 
4 
2 
3 
12 
8 

21 

510 
265 
68 
39 
35 
30 
172 
138 

50.13 
598.36 
130.84 
59.88 
65.21 
14.40 
20.40 
65.55 
248.03 

2.39 
1.17 

.49 
.88 

1.67 
.41 
.68 
.38 
1.80 

Kast  Mesa    -      -      -  -  

West  Mc«a 

Yueaipa                   .  -    -  -  - 

San  Timeteo  Canvon  

Beaumont                    -         

Banning                  -         -  -  -  -    

Totals    and    average                 

53 

1,278 

1,252.80 

.98 

44  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

The  average  amount  of  water  applied  to  the  53  orchards  representing 
a  combined  area  of  1,278  acres  giving  proper  weight  to  the  area  of  each 
orchard  is  .98  acre-foot  per  acre.  This  summary  includes  orchards  of 
all  ages.  The  results  when  segregated  for  trees  under  5  years  of  age 
and  over  5  years  of  age  are  shown  by  Tables  No.  1 1  and  No.  12. 

TABLE   No.   11. 
Summary  for  Orchards  Under  Five  Years  of  Age. 


Locality 

orchards 

acreJ 

acre  feet 

per  acre 

Mojave  River  bottom 

1 

6 

1188 

1  98 

East  Mesa 

480 

42676 

89 

West  Mesa  

6 

195  : 

59.50 

.31 

Lucerne  Valley  -    -  _-    - 

...     3 

f>8 

5988 

.88 

Tueaipa    

1 

10 

3.60 

.36 

San  Tiinctco  Canyon.  __.. 

0 

0 

0 

Perris  Vallev 

3 

30 

20.40 

.68 

Beaumont 

2 

18 

7.20 

.40 

Banning 

0 

0 

0 

Totals  and  average 

23 

807  > 

5S!)  •>° 

7.'! 

TABLE    No.    12. 
Summary  for  Orchards  Over  Five  Years  of  Age. 


LocaUt, 

Norcmh£as°f 

Total        ' 
acres 

Total            A 
acre  feet          ; 

ere  feet 
per  acre 

Mojave  River  bottom 

I                        I 
1  1 

15 

38.25 

2.55 

East  Mesa 

1  ! 

30 

171.60 

5.72 

West  Mesa  ..  _._  

5  ! 

70 

71.34 

1.02 

Lucerne  Valley  ...    _    _    .  _. 

0 

0 

0 

Yucaipa         _  

3  1 

29 

61.61 

2.12 

San  Timeteo  Canyon 

2 

35 

14.40 

.41 

Perris  Valley                          _  _ 

0 

0 

0 

Beaumont 

10 

154 

58.35 

.3?. 

g 

138 

'>4803 

180 

Totals   and    averages  -- 

30 

471 

663.58 

1.41 

The  average  used  on  23  orchards  representing  807  acres  of  trees 
under  5  years  is  .73  acre-foot  per  acre  and  the  average  for  30  on-ha^ls 
representing  471  acres  in  trees  over  5  years  is  1.41  acre-feet  per  acre. 
This  latter  group  includes  an  orchard  in  the  river  bottom  at  Oro  Grande, 
tract  No.  1,  and  the  Victor  Ranch  on  the  first  bench,  tract  No.  3,  which 
are  not  representative  of  conditions  on  the  mesas  and  for  which  the 
duty  of  water  is  excassively  low.  Eliminating  these  the  average  for  the 
orchards  over  5  years  of  age  with  a  combined  area  of  426  acres  is  1.07 
acre-feet  per  acre.  Most  of  the  orchards  in  Victor  Valley  appear  to 
have  had  insufficient  water  for  vigorous  growth  and  production. 


rriU/ATION    OK     MO.TAVK    RIVER.  45 

The  results  for  Ihe  individually  owned  orchards  arc  supplemented  by 
figures  on  the  gross  duly  of  \\a1er  for  the  areas  served  by  several  irriga- 
tion systems  delivering  water  principally  for  deciduous  fruit  trees  as 
given  by  Table  No.  13.  The  figures,  except  for  the  Banning  Water 
Company,  are  from  measurements.  The  duty  for  the  Beaumont  Land 
and  "Water  Company  is  for  1913  and  that  for  the  Lake  Hemet  Water 
Company  is  an  average  of  several  seasons.  The  duty  for  the  other 
systems  is  for  1916. 

TABLE   No.   13. 
Duty  of  Water  for  Deciduous  Orchards  Under  Irrigation  Systems. 


Irrigation  system 

Kind  of  trees 

Acres 

Ualn- 
fall 
in 

feet 

Irriga- 
tion 
in 

feet 

Total 
water 
in 
feet 

Vucaipa  Water  Co.  No.  1  _  _ 

Apples,  cherries,  etc 

2051 

1  50 

53 

203 

IN  Hiiinont  l.und  &  Water  Co._ 
Banning  Water  Co. 

Miscellaneous  deciduous 
Miscellaneous  deciduous 

1065 

2700 

1.66 
1  10 

.12 
1  17 

1.78 
257 

Lake  Hornet  Water  Co. 

Deciduous  and  citrus    ,. 

5600 

1  00 

i    i  10 

210 

Palmdalo  Water  Co. 

Pears 

^00 

50 

75 

125 

I.  it  tic  Hook  Creek  Irri.  Dist. 

Pears 

1500 

60 

85 

1  45 

Average 

80 

186 

i 

The  Yucaipa  Company  delivers  to  orchards  of  all  ages  and  the  water 
supply  has  been  adequate.  Although  the  precipitation  at  Beaumont  is 
high  the  amount  given  for  the  system  is  considered  insufficient  for  the 
locality.  The  duty  for  the  Banning  Company  is  based  on  the  amount 
of  water  available  for  use,  11  second-feet,  for  six  months.  The  amount 
actually  used  may  have  been  less.  This  company  has  a  plentiful  supply 
and  it  is  probable  that  more  water  is  used  than  is  necessary.  Most  of 
the  Hemet  orchards  are  decidous  but  some  are  in  citrus  fruits.  The 
trees  at  Palmdalc  arc  young  and  more  water  should  be  used  when  they 
become  mature.  Only  about  200  acres  of  the  total  area  given  for  the 
Little  Rock  district  were  of  full  bearing  age  in  1916  and  the  amount 
used  in  this  district  should  increase  in  the  future. 

The  average  amount  of  water  applied  under  these  irrigation  systems 
is  .80  acre-foot  per  acre  and  the  average  total,  including  rainfall,  is 
1.86  acre-feet  per  acre.  To  give  the  equivalent  of  this  latter  amount  in 
Victor  Valley  it  would  be  necessary  to  apply  1.36  feet  of  irrigation 
water  assuming  an  average  rainfall  of  .5  foot  per  annum. 

The  only  records  of  rainfall  on  the  east  mesa  are  for  such  short 
periods  as  to  be  of  little  value  for  comparison.  However,  it  is  believed 
that  the  east  mesa,  being  on  the  average  about  200  feet  lower  than  the 
west  mesa,  has  less  rainfall  and  that  the  amount  of  water  should  be  from 
10  to  20  per  cent  greater  than  for  the  west  mesa.  It  is  recommended 
that  the  duty  of  water  be  estimated  at  1.25  acre-feet  per  acre  for  the 


46  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

west  mesa  and  1.50  acre-feet  per  acre  for  the  cast  mesa.  Xo  allowance 
is  made  for  loss  in  distribution,  but  neither  is  any  account  taken  of  the 
land  that  would  be  devoted  to  buildings  and  which  would  not  require 
irrigation. 

One  miner's  inch  flowing  continuously  for  a  season  of  200  days  is 
equivalent  to  a  depth  of  1.25  feet  on  6.40  acres,  and  a  depth  of  1.50 
feet  on  5.38  acres. 

WATER  RIGHTS. 

The  first  irrigation  ditches  on  Mn.jave  River  were  constructed  in  the 
early  seventies  below  and  near  the  Lower  Narrows.  In  a  few  years 
others  were  constructed  on  the  "West  Fork  and  near  the  Upper  Narrows. 
It  appears  that  the  early  irrigators  relied  mainly  on  the  use  of  the 
water  to  establish  their  priorities  and  for  some  of  the  ditches  did  not 
accompany  their  appropriations  with  the  formality  of  filing  until  after 
the  ditches  had  been  used,  while  for  other  ditches  they  never  filed.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  with  most  streams  of  the  arid  country,  many  claims 
have  been  recorded  which  did  not  materialize  by  the  construction  of 
ditches  and  use  of  water.  It  is  estimated  from  a  review  of  the  county 
water  records  that  several  hundred  such  filings  have  been  made  on  the 
Mojave.  Probably  the  one  of  most  liberal  conception  was  a  promoter's 
claim  for  1,000,000  miner's  inches  to  be  diverted  from  the  river  near 
Hicks  by  a  canal  to  be  400  feet  wide  on  top,  250  feet  wide  on  the  bottom, 
10  feet  deep,  and  to  have  a  grade  of  3  feet  per  mile,  for  irrigating  10 
townships  (230,400  acres)  of  land  below  Daggett, 

The  earliest  claim  recorded  is  dated  April  21,  1861,  and  is  for  the 
entire  river  down  to  bedrock  for  3  miles  near  the  mill-site  at  Flat  Salt 
Springs.  This  and  other  claims  filed  in  the  sixties  were  for  mining 
purposes.  The  first  recorded  claim  for  an  irrigation  ditch  that  was 
constructed  and  used  was  for  the  Lane  &  Riley  Ditch  in  1872.  Next 
came  the  Houlton  filing  on  the  West  Fork  and  the  Pearl  filing  on  the 
main  river  in  1873.  These  are  followed  by  the  filing  for  the  Eogers 
Ditch  in  1876.  The  filings  for  most  of  the  other  ditches  so  located  as  to 
have  a  sufficient  supply  of  water  every  year  had  been  made  by  1885. 

Table  No.  14  associates  the  filings  as  identified  from  the  records  and 
other  essential  data  writh  the  original  and  present  names  of  the  ditches, 
the  list  being  in  order  of  location  downstream.  Several  of  the  older 
ditches  were  abandoned,  in  some  cases  the  water  right  being  exercised 
through  other  ditches.  Others  have  been  changed  as  to  location  of 
intake  with  the  shifting  of  the  river  channel  and  a  few  have  been 
relocated  throughout. 


UTILIZATION    OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  47 

I'mler  an  act  of  the  legislating  of  1864  and  applying  to  San  Bernar- 
dino County  only,  the  eounty  maintained  a  board  of  water  commis- 
sioners for  a  number  of  years  to  administer  the  waters  of  the  streams, 
an  institution  fashioned  after  that  of  the  early  Mormon  communities 
in  Utah.  The  commissioners  were  to  "locate"  ditches  and  to  apportion 
the  water  in  them  annually.  They  annually  selected  a  water  master 
for  each  ditch  to  make  the  apportionment  and  the  reports  of  the  water 
masters  to  the  board  are  a  matter  of  record.  The  main  activities  of 
the  commissioners  related  to  the  more  populous  settlements  on  the 
Santa  Ana  Kiver  and  tributaries,  but  in  187!).  acting  on  petition  of 
residents,  they  -.rave  attention  lo  irrigation  on  Mojave  River.  On 
January  l">th  of  that  year  they  met  on  the  banks  of  the  river  and 
located  six  ditches  near  the  Lower  Narrows,  assigning  to  them  names  and 
numbers  and  alloting  to  them  amounts  as  shown  by  the  table.  The  basis 
of  the  numbering  is  not  made  clear  and  the  order  is  probably  arbitrary. 
The  numbers  are  not  according  to  location  and  they  are  not  understood 
to  represent  priorities.  Several  other  ditches  were  in  use  on  other  parts 
of  the  river  at  this  time. 


48 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATION'S    IX    CALIFORNIA. 


Data  on 

TABLE 
Ditches 

O-ininalo,  •fo-mer 
name  of  ditch 

££^,MS£                  CIalm°fa» 

propriation 

=  '/.                             --'i 
£~              Date            F55    .               Claimants 
&*                                  '    /-'- 

Date 

m 

Upper  West  fork..  

(Amos  Houlton  

May   30,  '73 

Jan.     f)'  '82 
Jan.  l(i,  '<J2 
Jan.    6,  'sr, 
Mar.  18,  '11 
Aug.  13,  '85 

June  27,  '83 
Jan      °  '09 

socf 

2,000\ 
10,000  1 

10,0004 

5,000 

aw 

5,<;o:> 
10,000 
1,500 

I  ower  West  Fork 

"     1C.  A.   Burcham  
i  |J.   F.  Hotightori  

Gra,<*  Valley  Creek 

/C.  A.  Burcham  

Lang 

;  Win.  R.  Lang 

Hesperia      -                   

Hfsperia    Land    & 

Fast  Fork 

Water  Co. 
C.  A.  Burcham 

i    Xanfnrrl    P     T,aiiP^hlin 

Cole                                         j           -                                        A.  W.  C'ole 

(No  filing) 

Cory               .                                                                           K.  L.  Horton  and  J. 

Feb.  20,  '07 

1,000 

500 
l.OCO 

C.  Cory. 

Upper  Brown                       '                                                -las.  Waters  Jr,   and 

Oct.    2«,  '« 
(Xo  filing) 

Jas.  Brown. 
Lower  Brown     .  i._  .  _    .    __    -                        John  Brown       .  -.  ._ 

Rogers                                   '•                                               Samuel    Rogers    and 

Jan.  31,  '76 
Jan.  10,  '80 

(No  filing) 
Oct.    15,  '80 

(No  filing) 
(\o  filing) 

1,000 
2,000] 

J 

!      Win.  Ross. 
Allison                                                                                   A.  J.  Spencer 

Atwood  -- 

Mill   ....        .j                                                   Hallock.     C  o  n  s  a  r. 

4,000 

Hulday  Pearl      .... 

Clancey  and  Golds- 
worthy. 
2     Jan.  15,  '79       100      Hulday  Pearl  
4     Jan    15  '70       500      Geo    F.   Foote 

Foot?' 

Pioneer 

1     Jan.  15,  '79      300   .  A  t  k  i  n  s  o  n,     Lane, 
Swarthout  and 
Bemis. 
6     Jan.  15,  '79      300  i    Riley,  Decrow  and 
Snodderly. 

1  j  A.    H.    Pearl  

S       Jan      IT    "7Q         Mfi        A      fl      T  nnp 

April  17,  '85 
(No  filing) 

July  25,  '73 

Oct.    22,  '72 
(No  filing) 

April  30,  'S3 
Oct.     6,  '83 

Dec.    15,  '83 
(No  filing) 

800 

Wild  Goose 

A.   H.  Pearl  
Lane  &   Riley 

whole  ] 
river  \ 
400J 

1 

Snodderly    &    Decrow  5     Jan.  15,  "70            .     K.  Snrsilderlv  and  On. 
Dfcrow. 

f  D/Clark. 

Bledsoe  &  Robinson         .    .                                               -jBledsop    Clark    Rob- 

J 

6»J 

|     inson  and  Boren. 
IFrancis  A.  Haw*  
McNev;    ..  ..                                               Jerry  McNew 

Boren  &  Schneidewidt        !  —........                      M.  J.  Tinev  and  F  8 

Jan.  20,  '95 

Oct.    13,  '09 
Dee.    23,  'S4 
Dec.    18,  'C7 

Jan.  16,  '€.3 
Oct.    28,  '09 

Aug.  28,  'C6 
Oct.    17,  '07 

(No  filing) 
Mar.  22,  '15 

Sept.  28,  '93 
Sept.  27,  '10 

150 

500 
1,000 

800 

1,000 
1,500 

600 
4,000 

Scbneidewidt. 
Wilson  !._    ..                                        J     \    Wilson 

Hartman   ;      ..  L.  .                               H.  Hartman 

Swarthout                                                                                G    M    Swarthout  and 

J.  T.  Bennette. 
Richardson                     ..     ..!                                                      !   Richardson    and    Tal- 

madge. 

Scoble. 
Anchiniachie  i    J.  T.  Anehiniachie  

Chilson. 
Stonical  —  ; 

Harland                                                                                  |  R      4     Harland    and 

205 
100,000 
20,000 

;      D.  T.  Chilson. 
Minneola    't  Wm.  Deterle  

and  Water  Co. 

TTILI/.ATION    OF    MOJAVE    RIVER. 


No.   14 
in   Victor   Valley 


Present  ownership 


Dec.    -_'4,  '88 


.  Los  FJoresNo.  1.. 
. ;  Los  Flores  No.  2__ 
|  Los  Flores  No.  3— 


Victor  C.  Smith-,  j 
Victor  C.  Smith.-  h  2CC 
Victor  C.  Smith.-  j 


Wm.  R.  Lang__._ 
-i  Hifsperi"a"III"II"l  Appleton  L.,  W. 

!      &  P.  Co. 
Lower  Dvep  Creek    Appleton  L.,  W. 

&  P.  Co. 
j  Laughlin |  Laughlin  &  Laul 

A.  W.  Cole 

C.  C.  Lewis  an.l 

I.  B.  Miller. 
H.  G.  Garden.... 
Rancho  Verde  Co.|| 


.  ok 
I  t'\\  i 


Upper  Verde 


Lower  Verde j  Ranelio  Verde  Co.  J 

.,,,,.„       Heirs  of  Samuel 

Rogers. 
.  Driscoll      Victor  C.  Smith.- : 


Hesperia  L.  &  W.  Oo. 

vs.  Rogers. 
Allison    and    Atwood 

combined.     For  ore 

mill. 
Abandoned. 


Meyer   May    ]-.                        .,  Mnette 

J.  T.  Bennette—  . 
Victor  C.  Smith-- 
Victor C.  Smith- 
Victor  C.  Sniitn- 

Victor  C.  Smith, 
W.H.Robinson, 
P.  Huerlick. 

C  arl  McXew  
F.  Schneidrwiilt-. 

\V.  \V.  Iiigraliam. 
Victor  C.  Smith.. 
George  M.Swarth- 
out. 
.  Richardscu.- 

Dt'crow.  Dtirc-Il  tV 
Scoble. 
HcLean 

no 

80 

80 
80 
40 

8D 
200 
80 

Bledsoe    vs.    Decrow. 
1  Bledsoe    vs.    Decrow. 
Combined,  1S79. 

Combined.     Water 
used    through    Pio- 
neer 1916-7. 
;  Bledsoe  vs.  Dwrow. 

Bledsoe  vs.  Dor-row. 

Area  estimated. 

Area  estimated. 
Abandoned. 

Area  estimated. 
Area  estimated. 

Water   pumped    from 
wells. 

Davidson,           Mav   18,  "'.>7       2:!d     pioneer 

Hemi>    \- 

l.;inc. 

j      son. 
ixcrow   &           May  18,  '&7       400  i  Decrow 

Van  Horn. 

1          !     P 

Hlrdsoe  <t           May   16,  'i/V       600     Haw.<     &     Robin- 
U-il.inson.                                              KB. 

*  ^  I    """,  

i  n^,i  aisa  Ji  

-..  

2» 
80 

23 

•J  1 

.     Harland                   !  R    *    H»ri»Tiii 

H.  A.   Funk  and 
T.  S.  Vandyke. 
Y  e  r  m  o  Mutual 
Water  Co. 

-' 

50  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

On  January  27,  1871),  also  <m  .lamiary  23,  1880,  water  masters  were 
appointed  for  these  ditches  for  the  seasons.  The  report  of  W.  H. 
Robinson,  water  master  on  the  Pioneer  Ditch  (No.  1),  dated  March  5, 
1879,  is  the  only  one  recorded.  It  shows  the  water  in  the  ditch  to  have 
been  apportioned  by  rotation  among  seven  users,  a  complete  round  being 
made  every  15  days  and  7  hours. 

Of  the  ditches  located  in  1879  only  one,  the  Lane  &  Riley  (No.  3), 
had  a  filing.  Afterwards  in  1885  several  landowners  filed  on  water  to 
be  used  through  the  Pioneer  Ditch  (No.  1).  This  ditch  and  the  Foote 
(No.  4),  later  the  Meyer  and  now  the  Bennette,  and  the  Snodderly  & 
Decrow  (No.  5)  are  still  in  use.  The  latter  two  were  at  first  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river  but  were  moved  to  the  east  side  following  a  change  in 
the  river's  course  in  1884.  The  Hulday  Pearl  Ditch  (No.  2)  which  was 
later  abandoned  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  A.  H.  Pearl  Ditch  which 
was  combined  writh  the  Lane  &  Riley  into  the  Downey  &  Robinson  Ditch 
of  the  present  time.  The  Wild  Goose  (No.  6)  was  combined  with  the 
Pioneer  (No.  1)  October  24,  1879,  the  contract  signed  by  the  seven 
water  users  concerned  and  recorded  providing  that  the  owners  of  Ditch 
No.  1  ''agree  to  make  Ditch  No.  1  as  many  rods  long  as  Ditch  No.  6 
now  is."  A  further  memorandum  is  attached  to  the  record  of  these 

transactions  stating  that,  " sells  his  right  in  Pioneer 

Ditch  (No.  1)  to for  500  pounds  of  corn,  $5.35  and 

25  days  wrork  on  the  ditch. ' '  Another  agreement  dated  January  7,  1889, 
provided  that  eight  users  under  the  Pioneer  Ditch  give  to  three  land- 
owners a  one-fifth  interest  in  the  ditch  for  a  right  of  way  through  their 
lands. 

The  original  Houlton  Ditch  on  the  West  Fork  is  said  to  have  been 
abandoned  and  to  have  been  in  a  different  location  from  any  of  the 
ditches  used  at  a  later  time  for  the  Burcham  Ranch,  now  Rancho  Las 
Flores.  The  relation  of  the  present  West  Fork  ditches  to  the  Houlton 
filing  would  be  affected  not  so  much  by  a  change  in  location  as  by  any 
lapse  of  use  for  5  years  or  more  that  may  have  occurred. 

From  the  best  evidence  available  the  original  Brown  Ditch,  con- 
structed about  1873,  was  the  lower  of  the  two  now  on  Rancho  Verde. 
The  only  filing  by  any  of  .the  original  or  subsequent  owners  of  the 
Brown  Ranch  is  that  of  Waters  and  Brown  in  1882,  which  is  believed  to 
have  been  for  the  second  and  Upper  Brown  Ditch. 

The  Allison  and  the  At  wood  were  combined  as  to  water  right  into  the 
present  Driscoll  Ditch  (Plate  V,  Fig.  2).  The  Mill  Ditch,  used  for  a 
time  for  an  ore  mill  at  Oro  Grande,  was  abandoned  when  the  mill 
ceased  to  operate  and  was  never  used  for  irrigation.  The  Hesperia 
Ditch,  now  owned  by  the  Appleton  Land,  Water  and  Power  Company, 


UTILIZATION    OF    MO.IAVE    RIVER.  51 


is  the  only  one  diverting  waler  away  from  the  lands  in  the  immediate 
river  bottom. 

The  early  settlers  took  advantage  of  the  locations  where  the  surface 
flow  of  the  river  is  constant  and  the  later  appropriators  had  to  depend 
mainly  on  flood  waters.  The  ditches  now  diverting  at  favorable  loca- 
tions are  those  that  were  constructed  prior  to  1886  and  they  include 
the  Las  F  lores  Xo.  1,  Las  Flores  No.  2,  Hesperia,  Lower  Deep  Creek, 
Upper  Verde,  Lower  Verde,  Rogers.  Driscoll,  Bennette,  Pioneer,  Downey 
&  Robinson,  Decrow,  Haws  and  Hartman.  The  others  constructed 
since  1885  are  flood  water  ditches  which  receive  an  adequate  supply  only 
during  the  first  part  of  the  irrigating  season.  Some  of  these  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  river  receive  no  water  in  dry  years.  The  Daggett 
Ditch  diverts  the  underflow  and  the  Yermo  Ditch  is  supplied  by  pump- 
ing from  wells. 

The  table  shows  the  claims  for  the  ditches  to  be  ridiculously 
extravagant  in  amount  as  was  usually  the  case  under  the  old  California 
law.  The  filings  are  of  little  significance  except  as  they  may  have  pro- 
tected the  appropriators  for  a  reasonable  time  while  initiating  construc- 
tion and  carrying  it  to  completion  and  except  as  the  appropriations 
may  relate  back  to  the  filings  where  the  construction  was  prosecuted 
diligently.  The  amounts  allotted  to  ditches  by  the  county  water  com- 
missioners in  1879  are  somewhat  more  moderate.  The  rights  of  the 
ditches  if  determined  under  the  present  law  would  be  based  on  beneficial 
use.  No  applications  to  divert  water  from  Mojave  River  have  been 
received  by  the  State  Water  Commission  since  it  has  had  jurisdiction 
over  appropriations  under  the  new  law  effective  January  1,  1914.  One 
filing  for  a  flood  water  ditch  near  Barstow  was  recorded  at  the  county 
seat  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  old  law,  since  the  new  has  been  in 
effect. 

No  complete  adjudication  of  rights  on  Mojave  River  has  been  made 
and  the  few  priorities  and  decreed  amounts  are  fixed  only  as  regards 
certain  other  ditches  or  as  regards  certain  users  under  other  ditches 
involved  in  the  litigation.  The  Rogers  Ditch  was  decreed  a  capacity 
of  800  miner's  inches  December  24,  1888,  by  the  Superior  Court  and  the 
judgment  was  affirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  Hesperia  Land  and 
Water  Company  vs.  Rogers  (83  Cal.  11).  The  amount  is  extremely  lib- 
eral in  consideration  of  the  area  irrigated. 

Bledsoe  et  al.  vs.  Decrow  et  al.  (132  Cal.  312)  involved,  on  the  part  of 
the  plaintiffs :  the  Bledsoe,  now  the  Haws  and  Robinson  Ditch,  and  on 
the  part  of  the  defendants :  the  Pioneer,  the  Meyer,  formerly  the  Foote 
and  now  the  Bennette,  and  the  Snodderly  and  Decrow  ditches.  The 
plaintiffs  sought  to  be  adjulged  the  owners  of  600  miner's  inches  inde- 
pendent of  any  rights  of  the  defendants,  but  the  Superior  Court  on 


52  IRRIGATION"     IXVKSTKiATIOXS    IX    ( 'AI.IFOHXI  A. 

May  1s.  1ST!),  found  tluil  the  defendants  had  prior  rights  ;is  against  the 
plaintiffs  to  divert  \v;i1<'r  ;it  tlu-ir  respective  intakes  as  follows:  Meyer, 
175  miner's  indies;  Davids;  n,  I  Semis  and  Lane,  users  under  the  Pioneer 
Ditch,  230  miner's  indies;  and  Decrow  and  Van  Horn.  400  miner's 
inches.  The  plaintiff  accepted  the  decree  to  the  defendants  Meyer  but 
asked  for  a  new  trial  as  regards  the  other  defendants  which  was  ordered 
by  the  court  provisional  on  the  parties  being  unable  to  agree  on  certain 
specified  terms  different  from  those  of  the  decree.  The  defendants 
appealed  from  this  order  arid  the  Supreme  Court  on  March  22,  1901, 
affirmed  the  order  for  a  new  trial  but  gave  an  opinion  that  the  lower 
court  should  not  state  the  terms  of  compromise  different  from  the  rights 
found  to  belong  to  the  several  parties.  As  there  is  no  further  record  of 
this  cas:'  it  appears  that  there  was  no  second  trial  or  compromise 
and  that  the  original  decision  stands.  The  plaintiffs  were  decreed  the 
water  remaining  to  the  extent  of  600  miner's  inches  as  against  the 
defendants  after  satisfying  the  prior  rights  of  the  defendants  but  this 
case  considers  only  a  few  of  the  ditches  on  the  river.  The  rights  of  both 
the  plaintiffs  and  the  defendants  are  now  to  a  large  extent  in  one 
ownership. 

At  a  later  time  several  suits  relating  to  water  rights  were  filed  making 
the  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company,  the  Appletoii  Land. 
Water  and  Power  Company,  Rancho  Verde  Company  and  other  riparian 
landowners  parties,  but  no  action  has  been  brought  on  these  and  by  stip- 
ulation of  the  attorneys  no  action  is  to  be  brought  by  either  party  unless 
the  other  be  given  ten  days'  notice. 

Most  of  the  appropriation  rights  for  the  ditches  have  been  used  long 
enough  to  become  prescriptive.  So  far  as  is  known  the  only  lack  of 
continuous  use  in  the  sense  of  using  water  when  needed  for  a  part  of 
each  year,  has  been  confined  to  the  flood  water  ditches  which  can  not 
divert  water  in  seasons  of  deficient  supply. 

Xearly  all,  if  not  all,  of  the  ditch  owners  have  riparian  rights  which 
under  the  old  law  had  preference  over  appropriation  rights  and  were 
not  lost  by  nonuse.  Under  the  present  law  all  water  not  beneficially 
used  by  192-1:  will  then  become  subject  to  appropriation  and  the  prefer- 
ence of  the  riparian  proprietor  is  reduced  to  the  opportunity  to  estab- 
lish his  right  by  using  the  water  on  his  land  before  that  time. 

Owing  to  uncertain  legal  definition  of  riparian  land  it  has  not  been 
considered  advisable  to  undertake  any  exact  determination  of  the  extent 
of  such  lands.  The  estimate  of  the  area  here  given  is  based  on  the 
assumption  that  the  riparian  land  is  limited  to  the  smallest  sub- 
divisions that  have  existed  at  any  time  touching  the  high-water  banks  of 
the  river  and  its  tributaries  and  lying  within  the  drainage. 


I'TIUZATION    OF    MOJAVE    RIVER.  53 

Excepting  the  hinds  of  the  Appleton  Land,  Water  and  Power  Com- 
pany, probably  few.  if  any.  of  the  original  units  exceeded  320  acres, 
and  some  were  only  1(>0  acres.  Some  of  the  original  tracts  have  been 
subdivided.  Therefore  it  seems  sufficient  to  assume  as  an  average  that 
the  riparian  land  does  not  extend  back  from  the  river  more  than  one- 
half  mile  011  either  side.  Considering  only  irrigable  land  and  land 
where  the  flow  is  regular  enough  for  crops  to  be  matured,  an  estimate 
of  20,000  acres  of  riparian  land  is  given.  Adding  to  this  another 
20,000  acres  for  the  Appleton  company  lands,  the  total  estimated  area 
of  riparian  lands  that  should  be  taken  account  of  is  about  40,000  acres. 

Table  No.  14  shows  the  area  of  land  claimed  by  the  owners  to  be 
irrigated  under  each  ditch,  the  total  for  all  ditches  being  3,095  acres  of 
which  2.785  acres  are  in  the  river  bottom  and  310  acres  on  the  mesa  at 
Ilesperia.  In  addition  to  the  20.000  acres  of  riparian  land  owned  by  the 
Appleton  company  other  large  holdings  are  estimated  not  to  exceed  as 
follows:  Victor  C.  Smith  5,300  acres,  of  which  1,500  acres  are  on 
Rancho  Las  Flores.  600  acres  are  between  the  Forks  and  Victorville 
and  3.200  acres  are  belo\v  Victorville;  Rancho  Verde  Company  1,500 
acres;  and  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company  400  acres.  The 
other  riparian  lands  are  distributed  among  numerous  owners.  The 
Appleton.  Arrowhead  and  Verde  companies  control  about  27,000  acres 
of  the  riparian  land. 

UNDERGROUND  WATERS. 

Victor  Valley  is  part  of  a  great  alluvial  plain  sloping  northward  from 
the  granite  mountains  of  the  Sierra  Madre  Range.  The  swell  of  the 
debris  indicates  that  this  portion  of  the  desert  was  formed  in  previous 
geological  time  by  the  northward  drainage  of  the  San  Gabriel  Mountains 
and  when  much  more  water  flowed  in  this  direction  than  is  now  carried 
by  Sheep  Creek  and  the  other  small  streams  of  the  present.  Oro  Grande 
and  Antelope  washes  appear  to  have  belonged  to  this  older  drainage.  In 
the  earlier  time,  probably  that  portion  of  the  north  slope  of  the  moun- 
tains now  drained  southward  by  Lytle  and  Lone  Pine  creeks  was 
drained  northward,  the  flow  being  turned  southward  later  by  the  fault- 
ing through  Cajon  Pass. 

The  more  rounded  peaks  and  more  numerous  flats  of  the  San  Bernar- 
dino .Mountains  in  contrast  to  the  sharper  outlines  and  deeper  cut 
canyons  resulting  from  long  continued  erosion  of  the  San  Gabriel 
Mountains,  show  the  former  to  have  been  uplifted  in  later  time  than  the 
latter.1  The  great  scries  of  faults  running  diagonally  through  the  range 
and  dividing  the  two  groups  of  mountains  occurred  with  this  movement 
in  relatively  recent  geological  time  and  formed  Cajon  Pass.2  Appar- 

lUnited  States  Geuk^k-al  Survey,  Water  Supply  1'aper  No.  219,  by  W.  C.  Mendenhall. 
-Vnited  States  Geological  Survey,  Bulletin  613. 


54  IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

ently  the  elevation  of  the  San  Bernardino  group  produced  the  drainage 
of  Mojave  River  which  has  eroded  its  channel  across  the  old  alluvium 
separating  what  was  formerly  a  continuous  plain  into  the  east  and 
west  mesas. 

Mojave  River  flows  through  a  valley  .5  to  2  miles  wide  and  from  100 
to  150  feet  deep  between  the  east  and  west  mesas  as  far  as  the  Lower 
Narrows,  and  the  terrace  of  the  mesa  continues  on  the  west  side  of  the 
channel  as  far  as  Hicks. 

The  east  mesa  is  limited  on  the  north  by  mountains  and  buttes  and 
is  open  to  the  east  only  through  the  constricted  pass  between  Granite 
Mountain  and  the  San  Bernardinos.  The  west  mesa  (Plate  VI,  Fig.  1) 
is  of  much  broader  extent  and  is  only  indefinitely  bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  Shadow  Mountains  wThile  to  the  west  it  continues  as  the  vast  plain 
of  Mojave  Desert  for  many  miles  beyond  Victor  Valley  which  may  be 
considered  as  reaching  only  to  the  San  Bernardino  and  Los  Angeles 
County  line. 

The  west  mesa  slopes  from  an  elevation  of  4,000  feet  near  the  foothills 
to  2,700  feet  in  a  distance  of  15  miles  out  on  the  plain.  The  slope  is 
about  100  feet  per  mile  west  of  Hesperia  and  it  gradually  becomes 
flatter  towards  the  north.  The  east  mesa  is  in  general  lower  than  the 
west  mesa  and  it  has  much  less  slope. 

The  materials  of  these  mesas,  where  exposed  by  the  banks  of  the 
streams,  are  shown  to  have  the  character  of  rudely  stratified  stream 
detritus.  The  logs  of  wells  show  the  same  materials  to  extend  through- 
out the  plain.  Some  of  the  hills  to  the  north  of  Victor  Valley  are  of 
volcanic  origin  and  consist  of  tuff,  rhyolite,  and  lava,1 

A  survey  was  made  of  the  wells  and  pumping  plants  to  determine 
location,  depth  to  water,  and  the  extent  to  which  pumping  can  be  relied 
upon  for  the  reclamation  of  the  land.  Levels  were  run  to  establish  the 
elevation  of  the  water  in  the  wells  and  for  the  platting  of  hydrographic 
contours  from  which  to  make  deductions  concerning  the  slope  and  direc- 
tion of  movement  of  the  underground  water.  The  elevation  of  the  water 
along  lines  from  east  to  west  is  in  general  above  the  river  on  the  west 
side  and  nearly  level  with  the  river  on  the  east  side.  The  slope  of  the 
water  is  less  than  that  of  the  land,  the  difference  being  more  marked 
on  the  west,  than  on  the  east  side.  In  the  center  of  the  west  mesa  it  is 
15  feet  per  mile  and  to  the  north  and  northeast.  On  the  east  mesa 
it  is  to  the  north  but  it  becomes  nearly  level  over  a  large  area.  The 
ground  water  east  of  the  river  appears  to  have  much  more  direct  con- 
nection with  the  stream  than  that  on  the  west  side.  On  the  east  the 
main  source  is  the  river  underflow  and  but  minor  additions  are  made 
to  the  basin  by  the  foothill  drainage  to  the  southeast.  The  water  is 


'United  States  Geological  Survey,  Bulletin  613. 


UTILIZATION   OF   MOJAVE   RIVER.  55 

held  up  and  forced  to  return  to  the  stream  above  the  Upper  Narrows 
!>y  the  rocky  barrier  limiting  Apple  Valley  on  the  north.  The  West 
Fork  probably  contributes  1o  the  water  in  the  west  mesa  and  apparently 
oilier  waters  move  through  the  mesa  from  the  foothills  west  of  Cajon 
Pass  in  a  direction  towards  Yictorville  and  Oro  Grande.  The  sub- 
terranean basin  in  Mirage  Valley  no  doubt  received  waters  percolating 
from  the  region  of  Sheep  Creek.  The  Shadow  Mountains  and  buttes 
arrest  these  waters  and  divert  them  eastward  or  westward  from  the 
Mirage  dry  lake  or  "Playa"  (Plate  VI,  Fig.  2). 

'&  Numerous  springs  occur  along  the  west  bank  %of  the  river  from  a 
point  2  miles  above,  to  a  point  4.5  miles  below,  the  Upper  Narrows. 
None  are  found  on  the  east  bank.  The  water  seeps  from  the  sandy 
strata  confined  between  alternating  clay  strata.  The  strongest  flowing 
are  situated  at  the  Turner  ranch  below  the  narrows  and  about  midway 
between  Victorville  and  Oro  Grande.  Some  of  the  springs  have  been 
developed  by  tunneling  into  the  sandy  layers  from  which  the  water 
outcrops  and  the  flow  is  used  for  domestic  purposes  and  for  the 
irrigation  of  gardens.  Those  at  the  Turner  ranch  fill  a  small  reservoir 
from  wrhich  the  water  is  taken  to  irrigate  a  field  of  considerable  size. 
The  several  groups  of  springs  vary  in  elevation  but  40  feet  throughout 
the  6.5  miles  along  the  river  bank  and  their  positions  coincide  with  the 
water  plane  of  the  mesa  as  shown  by  the  wells.  Those  upstream  and 
most  of  those  downstream  from  the  Upper  Narrows  are  above  the  level 
of  the  river  at  that  point  and  those  at  the  Turner  ranch,  3.5  miles  below 
Victorville,  are  but  little  lower  than  those  near  the  town  while  the  river 
falls  07  feet  in  the  same  distance.  The  water  in  the  test  well  just 
northwest  of  the  narrows  stands  8  feet  above  the  water  in  the  river  at 
the  narrows.  This  seems  to  show  that  the  seepage  water  is  not  from  the 
river  immediately  above  the  narrows  but,  if  from  the  river,  rather 
from  some  point  farther  upstream,  or  from  the  West  Fork,  by  an 
indirect  route  through  the  mesa.  Other  observations  indicate  that  the 
river  underflow  does  not  detour  around  the  west  side  of  the  rock  at 
the  Upper  Narrows.  The  artesian  flow  from  the  wells  above  the  nar- 
rows is  confined  to  the  river  bottom  and  it  comes  from  strata  below 
bedrock  in  the  narrows.  The  artesian  head  should  not  be  produced  if 
the  passage  of  the  water  around  the  narrows  were  not  obstructed.  The 
same  conclusion  is  reached  from  the  stream  flow.  The  measurements 
show  a  loss  in  the  West  Fork  from  the  mouth  of  Horsethief  Creek  to 
the  Forks,  about  the  same  in  the  main  river  at  the  Forks  and  at  the 
Upper  Narrows  and  a  gain  from  the  upper,  to  the  Lower  Narrows. 

In  the  event  of  water  being  impounded  during  a  part  of  each  season 
by  a  dam  at  the  upper  narrows,  it  is  probable  that  the  head  produced 
by  the  stored  water  would  reverse  the  movement  of  the  seepage  and 


5&  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

cause  water  to  flow  out  of  instead  of  into  the  basin  above  the  west  end 
of  the  dam.  It  is  also  possible  that  such  a  reservoir  would  resist  the 
escape  of  seepage  from  the  east  mesa  sufficiently  to  raise  the  level  of  the 
ground  water  and  lessen  the  pumping  lift  for  wells  on  the  First  Bench 
and  the  western  portion  of  Apple  Valley. 

The  ground  water  on  being  encountered  in  drilling  has  generally  risen 
above  the  first  water  bearing  stratum  in  wells  piercing  more  than  one 
such  stratum.  This  artesian  action  is  understood  to  have  been  as  much 
as  12  feet  in  parts  of  the  east  mesa  and  as  much  as  20  feet  in  parts  of 
the  west  mesa  but  it  has  not  been  sufficient  to  cause  any  wells  outside 
the  river  bottom  to  now.  The  water  level  is  approximately  shown  by 
the  hydrographic  contours  and  the  depth  to  water  is  represented  by  the 
difference  between  the  topographic  and  hydrographie  contours  on  the 
map.  Theoretically  the  water  level  is  above  the  ground  surface  in  the 
artesian  area. 

Comparison  of  the  elevations  of  the  water  level  in  1917  with  the 
elevation  when  the  wells  were  completed  in  cases  where  the  records  are 
available  from  well  owners  and  drillers  shows  that  the  water  level  has 
receded  throughout  Victor  Valley,  in  most  wells  not  to  exceed  10  feet, 
The  drop  may,  in  part  at  least,  be  attributed  to  recent  dry  years  occur- 
ring in  the  declining  portion  of  the  supposed  cycle  of  precipitation. 
Observations  have  not  covered  a  period  of  long  enough  duration  to 
determine  whether  or  not  pumping  is  depleting  the  underground  basins 
in  excess  of  the  average  annual  contribution  to  them.  The  well  waters 
are  of  good  quality  for  irrigation. 

Fig.  3  shows  diagrams  of  the  logs  of  some  of  the  typical  deeper  wrells 
in  the  different  parts  of  Victor  Valley. 

WELLS  AND  PUMPING. 

The  data  obtained  on  wells  is  tabulated  as  an  appendix  to  this  report, 
The  information  on  wells  302  to  333  was  furnished  by  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey.  The  numbering  of  the  wells  in  the  table  corresponds 
to  the  numbering  on  the  accompanying  map.  In  some  cases  it  was  not 
practicable  to  obtain  all  of  the  data  to  make  the  table  complete  and  only 
such  information  as  seems  to  be  reasonably  reliable  has  been  included. 
Some  of  the  wells  are  owned  by  nonresidents  who  could  not  be  reached. 
The  depth  to  water  was  measured  wherever  practicable.  In  other  cases 
the  statement  of  the  owner  or  driller  was  taken.  The  date  of  measure- 
ment is  given  only  for  the  wells  in  which  depth  to  water  was  measured 
for  this  investigation.  The  elevations  of  ground  and  water  are  those 
determined  for  the  mapping  of  the  hydrographie  contours.  In  the 
column  showing  kind  of  pumps  the  terms  "single  deep  well"  and 
"double  deep  well"  refer  to  the  single  and  double  acting  plunger 


UTILIZATION    OF    MOJAVE    KIVEK. 


57 


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Fig.   3. — Diagrams  of  wells   in   Victor   Valley. 


58  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

pumps  of  large  size  developed  in  southern  California  for  irrigating 
plants  with  high  lifts.  These  pumps  have  become  known  commercially 
as  here  designated  and  they  are  distinguished  from  the  smaller  cylinder 
pumps  used  with  windmills  and  domestic  water  plants. 

In  few  cases  only  were  the  plants  in  operation  and  the  discharge 
measured  on  being  visited.  Most  of  the  discharges  are  those  claimed  by 
the  owners  or  their  representatives.  Many  have  never  been  measured 
and  they  are  probably  overestimated.  The  miner's  inch  here  used  is 
equal  to  one-fiftieth  part  of  a  second-foot.  Other  columns  in  the  table 
require  no  explanation. 

The  total  number  of  wrells  between  the  mountains  on  the  south  and 
the  north  line  of  township  6  on  the  north  and  between  Lucerne  Valley 
on  the  east  and  Los  Angeles  County  line  on  the  west  is  333.  Of  these 
214  are  drilled  and  steel-cased  and  the  remainder  are  dug-shafts.  A 
total  of  125  wells,  the  mast  of  which  are  drilled,  are  equipped  with 
pumping  machinery,  the  power  being  gasoline  or  oil  engines  with  but 
four  exceptions,  and  -43  wells  are  pumped  with  windmills.  Although 
the  main  transmission  line  of  the  Southern  Sierras  Power  Company 
crosses  Victor  Valley,  electric  power  is  not  distributed  generally  to 
pumping  plants.  Thirteen* wells,  all  located  in  the  river  bottom  just 
above  the  Upper  Narrows  on  Rancho  Verde,  now. 

An  abundance  of  ground  water  and  low  lifts  make  pumping  econom- 
ical and  efficient  in  the  river  bottom  and  on  the  first  bench  of  the  east 
mesa.  This  area  embraces  48  pumping  plants,  the  most  of  which  have 
lifts  ranging  from  50  to  100  feet  and  discharges  from  50  to  200  miner's 
inches. 

The  second  or  main  bench  of  the  east  mesa,  including  the  pass  east 
of  Deadman  Point,  has  31  pumping  plants.  The  highest  discharge  for 
any  of  these  is  70  miner's  inches  and  the  most  are  under  50  miner's 
inches.  Excluding  the  plants  in  the  pass  the  lifts  range  from  72  to 
242  feet. 

The  west  mesa  includes  40  pumping  plants.  The  lift  at  llesperia 
is  300  feet  and  at  one  well  on  Baldy  Mesa  it  is  869  feet.  Such  lifts  are 
economically  prohibitive  for  this  region  and  but  small  streams  of  water 
have  been  pumped  from  these  wells.  The  lifts  are  lower  and  the  wells 
better  near  the  settlement  of  Adelanto  in  Sunrise  Valley  and  still  better 
conditions  for  pumping  are  found  in  Mirage  Valley.  The  depth  to  water 
is  only  about  20  feet  in  wells  near  the  dry  lake  bed  and  some  good 
producing  wells  are  located  there. 

Excluding  the  river  bottom  and  first  bench  and  considering  the  mesa 
lands,  it  appears  that  the  only  sections  in  which  pumping  underground 
water  can  be  relied  upon  as  the  sole  source  of  supply  to  irrigate  large 
solid  areas  are  the  north  central  portion  of  the  east  mesa,  the  lower 


UTILIZATION   OF    MOJAVE   RIVER.  59 

portion  of  Mirage  Valley  and  possibly  that  in  the  vicinity  of  Adelanto. 
A  great  majority  of  the  west  mesa  and  a  portion  of  the  east  mesa  can 
he  reclaimed  only  by  stream  flood  waters,  stored  and  conveyed  by 
gravity. 

About  one-halt'  million  dollars  has  Keen  invested  in  wells  and  pumping 
machinery  in  Victor  Valley.  In  addition  to  the  plants  within  the 
territory  of  the  map.  numerous  others  are  pumping  from  wells  along 
the  lower  part  of  the  river  the  most  being  near  Hicks,  Barstow,  Daggett 
and  Minneola.  The  plain  about  Hinckley,  6  miles  northwest  of  the  river 
between  Hicks  and  Barstow  and  where  the  underground  water  is  no 
doubt  in  part  from  the  river,  is  also  the  scene  of  pumping  activity. 

Included  herewith  are  estimates  of  the  cost  of  pumping  intended  to 
represent  three  sets  of  conditions  found  in  Victor  Valley.  Case  No.  1 
is  for  the  river  bottom  where  the  wells  are  comparatively  shallow  and 
good  producers,  the  pumping  lifts  low,  the  soil  sandy,  the  crop  alfalfa, 
and  the  amount  of  water  required  high.  Case  No.  2  is  typical  of 
orchard  irrigation  in  portions  of  Apple  Valley.  Here  the  wells  are 
deeper,  the  lifts  greater,  the  discharges  less,  the  soil  tighter  and  the 
duty  of  water  higher.  This  case  would  apply  also  to  a  limited  portion 
of  Mirage  Valey.  Case  No.  3  is  suggested  by  conditions  of  the  west 
mesa,  particularly  those  of  the  central  portion.  Here  the  water  must 
be  used  for  orchards,  sparingly  on  account  of  the  small  streams  pro- 
duced by  the  wells  and  the  expense  of  pumping  against  high  heads. 
( 'ase  Xo.  4  is  a  duplicate  of  No.  3  except  that  an  electric  motor  is  snb- 
stituled  for  the  engine  to  compare  the  cast  of  the  two  modes  of  power. 
Depreciation  is  not  counted  on  well  and  building.  The  percentages 
are  selected  for  the  several  combinations  of  types  of  pumps  and  motive 
power,  considering  the  deep  well  pump  more  durable  than  the  cen- 
trifugal or  the  turbine,  and  the  electric  motor  more  durable  than  the 
gasoline  or  semi-Diesel  engine.  The  plant  efficiency  is  also  a  combina- 
tion of  that  for  the  power  and  the  pump  and  in  fixing  the  percentages, 
preference  is  given  slightly  to  motors  over  engines  and  more  decidedly 
to  deep  well  pumps  over  the  types  with  speedily  moving  parts. 
Although  deep  well  pumps  have  higher  mechanical  efficiency  and  longer 
life  than  centrifugals  and  turbines  they  generally  require  more  expense 
for  repairs  under  which  is  included  the  cost  of  renewing  plunger 
leathers  and  the  pulling  of  the  rods.  The  costs  of  machinery  on  which 
computations  of  fixed  charges  are  based  are  slightly  less  than  those  of 
the  present  time  (1917)  and  they  approximate  the  prices  that  obtained 
in  1915  which  year  is  believed  to  better  represent  the  normal. 


60  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

Case  No.  1. 

Crop  to  be  irrigated,  alfalfa. 

Depth  of  water  oil  land  required.  5  ft.     Amount   of  water  furnished  by   well.   15M 
mi.  in.    (3  sec.  ft.).     Season.   15O  days    (3.6<IO  hrs.  i. 

Area  plant  will  irrigate  ISO  acres.     I,ift.  50  ft.     Work  done.  17  h.  p. 

Power  required  at  40  per  cent  efficiency.  43  h.  p. 
Cost  of  plant: 

Well,  200  ft.  deep,  drilling  at  $2.00  per  ft  _________________  $400  00 

Casing,   12  in.,   double  stove  pipe,   12  gage,  180  ft.  at  $2.25 

per   ft.   ______________________________________________     405  00 

Starter,   20  ft.,  3   ply,   and   ring  __________________________       80  00 

Pit.  G  ft.  x  G  ft.  x  40  ft.,  redwood  curbing  at  $2.00  per  ft  _____       80  00 


Pump,  7  in.,  single  stage,  vertical,  centrifugal,  wooden  frame,  shafting 

pipe,   pulley,   installed  complete  _________________________________  1  .25o  no 

Engine,  oil.  5O  h.  p.  freight,  concrete  foundation,  installed  complete  ___  1,X5<>  U«i 

Belt,  64  ft  ____________________________________________________  85  00 

Building,  10  ft.  x  48  ft.  and  derrick___  500  00 


Total,   $4,650  00 

Cost  of  plant  per  mi.  in.,  $31.00. 
Cost  of  plant  per  acre,  $25.83. 
Cost  of  operation : 

Interest,  $4,650.00  at  G  per  cent $279  00 

Taxes  and  insurance,  $4,650  at  1  per  cent 46  00 

Depreciation   on   machinery,   $3,185  at  12  per  cent 382  20 

$707  70 
Fuel,  40  degree   (Baume)   oil,  43  h.  p..  3,600  hrs.,  J  gal.  per  h.  p.  hr., 

19,350   gal.   at   $.07   per   gal.    delivered l.:554  5u 

Attendance.  150  days   at   $2.00  per  day 300  00 

Repairs,  lubricating  oil,  etc 50  00 


Total    $2,412  20 

Amount  of  water  pumped,  150  mi.  in.  for  3,600  hrs..  900  acre  ft. 

Cost  of  water  per  acre  ft.,  $2,68. 

Cost  of  water  per  mi.  in.  per  hr..  $.<u)45. 

Cost  of  water  per  acre  per  annum,  $13.40. 

Case   No.  2. 

Crop  to  be  irrigated,  apples. 
Depth  of  water  on  land  1.5  ft.     Amount  of  water  furnished   by   well,  50  mi.   in. 

(1  sec.  ft.).     Season.  150  days    CKiCO  hrs.  I . 

Area  plant  will  irrigate  200  acres.     Lift.  KM>  ft.     Work  done.  11.4  h.  p. 
Power  required  at  .'!.">   per  cent  efficiency,  32.5. 

Cost  of  plant : 

Well,  400  ft.  deep,  drilling  at  $2.00  per  ft $800  00 

Casing,   12  in.   double   stove   pipe,   12  gage,  380  ft.   at  $2.25 

per   ft.    855  00 

Starter,  20  ft.,  3  ply,  and  ring 90  00 

-    $1,745  00 

Pump,  9J  in.,  8  stage,  turbine,  installed  complete 2,150  00 

Engine,  oil,  35  h.  p..  freight,  concrete  foundation,  installed  complete —      1,400  00 

Belt,   60  ft.   70  00 

Building  10  f t.  x  4S   ft.   and   derrick 500  00' 

Total  __  _    $5,865  00 


UTILIZATION    OF     MO.IAVE    RIVER.  61 

Cost  of  [.Unit  per  mi.  in.,  $117.30. 
Cost  of  plain   per  acre.  X2'.>.32. 
( !oal   of  operation  : 

Inteivst,  $5,!St',.->  at  6  per  cent $351  90 

Taxes  and  insurance,  s.l.sc,;,  at  1  per  cent 58  65 

Depreciation  on  machinery,  $3,620  at  33  per  cent 470  60 

.       $881  13 

Fuel,  40  degree  (Baume)  oil,  32.5  h.  p.,  3,600  hrs.,  J  gal.  per  h.  p.  hr., 

14,(i23  gal.   at  $.07  per  gal.   delivered 1,023  75 

Attendance.  ir>o  days  at  $2.00  per  day 300  00 

Repairs,  lubricating  oil.  etc 50  00 


Total $2,254  90 

Amount  of  water  pumped.  5O  mi.  in.  for  3,600  hrs.,  300  acre  ft. 
Cost  of  water  per  acre  ft.,  $7.52. 

Cos!   of  wafer  per  mi.  in.  per  hr..  $.012.~i. 
Cost  of  water  per  acre  per  annum.  $1.1.27. 


Case   No.  3. 

( 'rop   to  lie   irrigated,   apples. 

I)epth  of  water  on  land.   1.25  ft.     Amount  of  water  furnished  by  well,  25  mi.  in. 
1.5  sic.   ft.  I.      Season.   150  days    (3,600  hrs.) 

Area  plant  will  irrigate  120  acres.     Lift,  25O  ft.     Work  done,  14.2  h.  p. 
Power  required  at   5(>  per  cent   efficiency.  2X.4  h.  p. 
Cost    of  plant  : 

Well.  500  fr.  deep,  drilling  at  $2.00  per  ft $1,000  00 

Casing,    12   in.,   double   stove   pipe.    12   gage,   480  ft.   at  $2.25 

per   ft.   1,080  00 

Starter.  2<)  ft..  3  ply.  and  ring 90  00 

-    $2,170  00 

Pump,   double   acting,   deep   well,   plunger,   20  h.   p.   8  in.   cyl.,   5(5   in. 
double  stroke,  20  strokes  per  min.,  concrete  foundation,  derrick  and 

hoist,  installed  complete 2,400  00 

Kngine.  oil.  30  h.  p.,  concrete  foundation,  installed  complete,  including 

freight 1,250  00 

Belt.  <!0  ft 50  00 

Building.  10  ft.  x  48  ft.__  400  CO 


Total $6,270  00 

Cosi   uf   plant    per  mi.   in..  .S250.SO. 
Cost   of  plant  per  acre,  $52.25. 
Cost  of  operation  : 

Interest.  $6,27O  at  6  per  cent $376  20 

Taxes  and  insurance,  $6,270  at  1  per  cent 62  70 

Deputation  on  machinery,  $3,700  at  10  per  cent 370  00 

$808  90 

Fuel,  40  degree  (Baume)  oil,  28.4  h.  p.,  3,600  hrs.,  J  gal.  per  h.  p.  hr., 

12,780  gal.  at  $.07  per  gal.  delivered 894  60 

Attendance,  150  days  at  $1.50  per  day 225  00 

Repairs,   lubricating  oil,  etc 10Q  00 


Total     -    $2,028  50 

Amount  of  water  pumped.  25  mi.  in.  for  3,600  hrs.,  150  acre  feet. 
Cost   of  water  per  acre  foot,  $13.52. 
Cost  of  water  per  mi.  in.  per  hr.,  $.0225. 
Cost  of  water  per  acre  per  annum,  $16.90. 


62  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

Case   No.  4. 

Crop  to  bo  irrigated,  apples. 

Depth  of  water  on  land  1.25  ft.     Amount  of  water  furnished   by  well.  25  mi.  in. 
(.5  sec.  ft.).     Season,  150  days   (3,600  hrs.). 

Area  plant  will  irrigate,  120  acres.     Lift,  250  ft.     Work  done,  14.2  h.  p. 
Power  required  at  55  per  cent  efficiency,  25.8  h.  p. 
Cost  of  plant: 

Well,  500  ft.  deep,  drilling  at  $2.00  per  ft $1,000  00 

Casing,  12  in.,  double  stove  pipe,   12  gage,  480  ft.   at  $2.25 

per  ft. 1,080  00 

Starter,  20  ft,  3  ply,  and  ring 90  00 

-    $2,170  00 

Pump,   double  acting,   deep  well,  plunger,   20  h.   p.,   8  in.   cyl.,  50   in. 
double  stroke,  20  strokes  per  min.,  concrete  foundation,  derrick  and 

hoist,  installed  complete 2,400  00 

Motor,  30  h.  p.,  induction,  550  volt,  60  cycle,  3  phase,  1,800  r.  p.  in., 

concrete  foundation,  installed  complete,  including  freight 520  00 

Belt,   60  ft. 50  00 

Building,   10   f t.  x  48   ft.    40000 


Total    $5,540  00 

•    Cost  of  plant  per  mi.  in.,  $221.60. 

Cost  of  plant  per  acre,  $4<US. 
Cost  of  operation : 

Interest,  $5,540  at  6  per  cent $332  40 

Taxes  and  insurance,  $5,540  at  1  per  cent 55  40 

Depreciation   on  machinery,  $2,970  at  8  per  cent 237  00 

$625  40 
Electrical   power  19.25  k.w.    (25.8  h.p.)    3,600  hrs.,   69,300  k.w.   hrs., 

at  $.0175  per  k.w.   hr 1,212  75 

Attendance,  150  days  at  $1.00  per  day 150  00 

.Repairs  and  lubricating  oil 75  00 


Total $2,063  15 

Amount  of  water  pumped,  25  mi.  in.  for  3,600  hrs.,  150  acre  ft. 

Cost  of  water  per  acre  ft.,  $13.74. 

Cost  of  water  per  mi.  in.  per  hr.,  $.0229. 

Cost  of  water  per  acre  per  annum,  $17.19. 

For  orchard  irrigation,  especially  with  expensive  water  as  under  cases  No.  3  and 

No.   4,  it  would  be  economical  and  desirable  to  use  concrete  pipe  underground  to 

convey   and  distribute  the  water  to  the  furrows  and  trees.     Such  a  system  for  a 

10  acre  tract  is  estimated  to  cost  as  follows : 

630  ft.  of  8  in.  concrete  pipe  at  $.18  per  ft.  laid $113  40 

21  stands,  30  ft.  apart,  with  iron  valves  at  $2.00  each 42  00 

1  gate  basin  with  iron  slide  gate 8  00 


$163  40 
Cost  per  acre,  $16.34. 


STREAM  DISCHARGE. 

The  mountain  watershed  of  Mojave  Eiver  has  an  area  of  217  square 
miles  of  which  142  square  miles  are  drained  by  Deep  Creek  or  the  East 
Fork  and  75  square  miles  are  drained  by  the  West  Fork.  The  water- 
shed varies  from  an  elevation  of  8,000  feet  at  its  highest  point  to  3,000 
feet  at  the  Forks  where  the  entire  drainage  is  brought  together  in  the 


UTILIZATION    OF    MO.JAVE    KIVER.  63 

main  river.  The  norl  hern  slopes  (Plate  111.  Kig.  1)  of  the  Sierra 
Madre  Range  receive  less  precipitation  than  the  southern  slopes  but 
they  are  less  steep,  less  subject  to  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  better  timbered 
and  they  hold  the  snows  longer  and  have  slower  runoff  in  proportion  to 
precipitation  than  southern  slopes. 

The  comprehensive  metereological  observations  made  throughout  the 
watershed  by  the  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company  for  over 
20  years  show  the  precipitation  to  vary  from  about  15  inches  at  the 
Forks  to  about  50  inches  near  the  summit,  the  maximum  occurring  in 
the  Hats  situated  just  north  of  the  crest  of  the  range,  and  flanked  by 
peaks.  The  precipitation  falls  off  rapidly  towards  the  desert  on  the 
northeast.  The  more  elevated  portions  of  the  watershed  are  in  heavy 
timber  of  pine  and  fir  without  much  undergrowth  and  the  lower 
portions  are  covered  with  thick  brush.  Table  No.  14  shows  the  areas 
drained  by  the  branches  grouped  according  to  the  reservoir  sites  into 
which  they  are  tributary.  The  drainage  of  Deep  Creek  below  the  upper 
storage  works  can  be  made  tributary  to  the  Forks  site  by  diversion. 

TABLE   No.   15. 

Mountain   Drainage  Areas  of  Mojave   River. 


Deep  Creek  (East  Fork). 
Above  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir  and  tunnel — 

Little  Bear  Creek 6.64  ' 

Hooks,  Fern,  Shake,  Cedar  and  Sheep  creeks 3.61 

Deep  Creek  16.10 

Crab  Creek  3.70 

Holbrook  Creek  and  tributaries 33.76 

Cox  Creek  •_ 9.39 

Grass  Valley  Creek1 2.72 


Total,  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir 75.92 

Below  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir  and  tunnel 65.88 


Total,   Deep  Creek 141.80 

West  Fork. 
Above  dam  site  No.  2 — 

East  Fork  of  West  Fork 18.82 

West  Fork  of  West  Fork 11.05 

Between  dam  sites  Nos.  2  and  3.—.   4.95 


Total,  reservoir  sites  No.  2  and  No.  3 34.82  ; 

Below  dam  site  No.  2  and  Grass  Valley  dam  site i 39.96 


Total,  West  Fork  (Forks  reservoir  site). 


Total,  Mojave  River. 


74.78 


216.58 


1Naturally  tributary  to  West  Fork. 


64 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


An  examination  of  the  precipitation  records  for  .southern  California 
suggests  th<j  selection  of  a  period  of  about  IT  years  as  a  proper  one  on 
which  to  base  the  average  runoff.  Tables  No.  16  to  No.  20  show  the 
precipitation  at  several  stations ;  the  first  for  65  seasons  at  San  Diego, 
the  longest  record  in  southern  California ;  the  next  for  45  seasons  at  San 
Bernardino,  the  second  longest  record,  and  the  others  for  Glen  Ranch, 
Bear  Valley  Dam  and  Gate  House,  the  latter  being  at  Little  Bear  Valley 
Dam,  and  the  only  one  in  the  Mo.jave  River  watershed.  The  table  for 
San  Diego  shows  the  average  for  periods  of  different  lengths  terminating 
with  1914-15,  also  the  ratios  of  these  averages  to  the  average  for  the 
longest  period.  It  is  noticed  that  17  seasons  must  be  included  to  obtain 
a  period  terminating  with  1914-15  to  give  an  average  equal  to  the  aver- 
age for  the  longest  period. 

The  tables  for  the  other  stations  show  the  ratios  of  averages  for  the 
different  periods  to  the  average  for  the  longest  period  equated  to  the 
longer  65  season  record  at  San  Diego.  The  average  for  the  last  17 
seasons  at  the  several  stations  agree  remarkably  well  and  it  seems  that 
this  represents  a  cycle  from  which  safe  deductions  of  runoff  can  be 
made.  However,  from  a  study  of  the  precipitation  records  of  this 
immediate  late  period  and  from  common  knowledge  of  several  seasons 
of  low  flood  discharges  about  this  time,  it  seems  advisable,  in  order  to 
consider  the  most  unfavorable  conditions  which  may  arise,  to  extend 
the  period  back  one  additional  season  to  include  the  low  seasonal  dis- 
charge for  1897-98,  making  the  period  18  seasons. 


TABLE    No.    16. 
Precipitation  at  San   Diego. 


1850-51 
1851-52 
1852-53 
1&5S-54 
1854-55 
18.55-56 
1856-57 
1857-58 
18.58-59 
1859-60 


1861-62 
1862-63 
1863-64 
1864-65 


Elevation,   93   feet. 


Season 

Precipita- 
tion.       I       Period 
inches       | 

! 

S-  ;  SSr 
ss  ;  '"  "»• 

Number 

seasons 

8.41 
9.48 

11.03 
9.77 

13.56 
9.89 
4.76 
7.54 
6.61 
6.58 
7.90 

15.64 
3.87 
5.1  ! 
8.45 


1*65-66   12.82 

1866-67   ..  I     13.73 


1850-1915 
1851-1915 
1852-1915 
1853-1915 
1854-1915 
1855-1915 
1856-1915 
1857-1915 
1858-1915 
1859-1915 
1860-1915 
1861-1915 
1862-1915 
1863-1915 
1864-1915 
1865-1915 
1866-1915 


9.70 
9.72 
9.72 
9.70 
9.70 
9.64 
963 
9.72 
9.76 
9.81 
9.87 
9.90 
9.80 
9.91 
10.00 
10.04 


100.00 
100.21 
100.21 
100.00 
100.00 
99.37 
99.27 
100.21 
100.62 
101.13 
101.75 
102.C6 
101.03 
102.16 


103.51 
102.89 


UTILIZATION   OF    MO.JAVE    RIVER. 


TABLE   No.   16 — Continued. 
Precipitation  at  San   Diego. 


Season 

Precipita- 
tion, 
inches 

Period 

Average 
precipita- 
tion for 
period, 
inches 

Ratio  to 
65  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Number 
of 
seasons 
in 
period 

'"'67-68 

1123 

1867  1915 

990 

109  Ofi 

1868-69     

11.68 

1868-1915 

987 

101  75 

47 

1869-70   _ 

5.48 

1869-1!)!.-, 

ft.83 

101  34 

4fi 

1871-72 


1873-74 
1S74-7.-) 
1875-76 
1876-77 
1877-78 
1878-79 
1879-80 
1880-81 
1881-82 
1882-83 
1883-84 
1884-85 
1885-86 
1886-87 
1887-88 


7.18 
<).50 

It). 88 
.-..7:! 

10.11 


1871-1915  j 
1872-1915  | 
1873-1915  I 
1874-1915  : 
1875-1915 


1889-90 
1890-91 
1891-92 
1892-93 
1883-94 
1894-95 
1895-96 
1896-97 
1897-98 


1900-01 
1901-02 
1902-03 
1903-04 
1904-05 
1905-06 
1906-07 
1907-08 


3.75  ^X  1876-1915 


16.10 
7.88 

14.36 
9.66 
9.51 
4.92 


1877-1915  ; 

1878-1915 

1879-1915 

1880-1915 

1881-1915 

1882-1915 


25.97^1883-1915 


1909-10 
1910-11 
1911-12 
1912-13 
1913-14 
1914-15 


8.67 
16.96 
8.32 
9.82 
11.02 
15.02 
10.47 
8.70 
9.26 
4.97 
11.90 
6.21 
11.78 
4.99 
5.24 
5.97 
10.45 
6.17 
11.76 
4.40 
14.32 


8.55 
10.23 

9.79 
11.99 
10.72 

5.97 

9.83 
14.41 


1884-1915 
1885-1915 
1886-1915 
1887-1915 
1888-1915 
1889-1915 
1890-1915 
1891-1915 
1892-1915 


1894-1915 

1895-1915  j 

1896-1915  ; 

1897-1915 

1898-1915 

1899-1915 

1900-1915  i 

1901-1915  i 

1902-1915 

1903-1915 

1904-1915 

1905-1915 

1906-1915 

1907-1915 

1908-1915 

1909-1915 

1910-1915 

1911-1915 

1912-1915 

1913-1915 

1914-1915 


10.04 
10.11 
10.19 
10.02 
10.14 
10.13 
10.30 
10.15 
10.21  | 
10.09 
10.11 
10.12 
10.29 
9.78  ! 
9.82 
9.57 


9.61 

9.55 

9.33 

9.29/K 

9.31 

9.32 

9.52  ! 

9.40] 

9.57 

9.45 

9.71 

9.99 
10.26 
10.24 
10.56 
10.46 
11.01 
10.68 
10.23 
10.19 
10.42 
10.45 
10.58 
10.23  ! 
10.07 
12.12 
14.41 


103.51 

104.23 

105.05 

103.30 

104.54 

104.43 

106.18 

104.64 

105.25 

104.02 

104.22 

104.33 

106.08 

100.82 

101.24 

98.66 

99.17 

99.07 

98.45 

96.18 

ZSft77 

95.88 

96.08 

98.14 

96.91 

98.66 

97.42 

100.10 

102.99 

105.77 

105.57 

108.87 

107.83 

W13.50 

110.10 

105.46 

105.05 

107.42 

107.73 

109.07 

105.46 

103.81 

124.95 

148.55 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


TABLE   No.   17. 


Precipitation   at  San    Bernardino. 


Elevation,  1,054  feet. 


Season 

Precipita- 
tion. 
Inches 

Period 

Average 
precipita- 
tion for 
period, 
inches 

Ratio  to 
45  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Ratio  to 
equated 
65  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Number 
of 

seasons 

period 

1870-71 

1394 

1870-1915 

1601 

10000 

10237 

45 

1871-72        

8.98 

1871-1915 

16.05 

10025 

102.62 

44 

1872-78 

15.10— 

1872-1915 

1622 

101  31 

10371 

43 

1873-74  -     - 

23.81 

1873-1915 

16.24 

101.43 

103.84 

42 

1874-75 

13.65 

1874-1915 

16.06 

10031 

10269 

41 

1875-76  

19.90 

1875-1915 

16.12 

100.69 

103.07 

40 

1876-77 

9.52 

1876-1915 

16.02 

10006 

10243 

39 

1877-78 

20.33 

1877-1915 

1619 

101  12 

103  52 

38 

1878-79        .    ._    —      .    — 

11.54 

1878-1915 

16.08 

100.43 

10282 

37 

1S79-80 

20.36 

1879-1915 

1621 

101  24 

10364 

36 

l^SO-81  

13.50 

1880-1915 

16.09 

100.50 

10288 

35 

1881-82 

11.54 

1881-1915 

16.17 

10099 

10339 

34 

1882-83  

9.17 

1882-1915 

16.31 

101.87 

102.60 

33 

1883-84 

37.51  y/ 

1883-1915 

16.53 

10325 

10569 

32 

1884-85  

10.81 

1884-1915 

15.85 

99.00 

101.34 

31 

1885-86        

21.93 

1885-1915 

1602 

100.06 

10263 

30 

1886-87 

1450 

1886-1915 

1582 

9881 

101  15 

29 

1887-88    ...    -.           ._      — 

17.76 

1887-1915 

15.86 

9906 

101  41 

°8 

1888-89 

20.97 

1888-1915 

1579 

9862 

10096 

27 

1889-90    

25.45 

1889-1915 

15.68 

97.94 

100.02 

26 

1890-91 

18.08 

1890-1915 

1520 

9494 

9719 

25 

1891-92  

14.35 

1891-1915 

15.08 

94.19 

96.42 

24 

1892-93 

19.82 

1892-1915 

15.11 

9437 

96.61 

23 

1893-94 

813 

1893-1915 

1490 

*/  V9306 

9527 

22 

1894-95  _    - 

20.98     / 

1894-1915 

15.22 

95.06 

9732 

21 

1895--% 

8.11V 

1895-1915 

14  94 

9331 

9552 

20 

1896-97  

16.74 

1896-1915 

15.29 

95.50 

97.76 

19 

1897-98 

8.24 

1897-1915 

1521 

9503 

9725 

18 

1898-99  

7.49 

1898-1915 

15.62 

97.56 

99.87 

17 

1899-00        .    „ 

8.64 

1899-1915 

1613 

10074 

10313 

16 

1900-01 

1736 

1900-1915 

16  63 

10387 

10633 

15 

1901-02  ._    ._    ._ 

11.15 

1901-1915 

16.58 

10356 

10601 

14 

1902-03 

17.42 

1902  1915 

1699 

10612 

10863 

13 

1903-04 

937 

1903-1915 

16.96 

105.93 

108.44 

12 

1904-05  

20.78 

1904-1915 

17.65 

l/vilf).24 

112.85 

11 

1905-06 

19.88 

1905-1915 

17.34 

108.31 

110.87 

10 

1906-07  

23.17 

1906-1915 

17.06 

106.56 

109.08 

9 

1907-08 

15.62 

1907-1915 

16.29 

101.12 

104.16 

8 

1908-09  

17.36 

1908-1915 

16.39 

102.37 

104.80 

7 

1909-10  ._ 

15.02 

1909-1915 

16.23 

101.37 

103.77 

6 

1910-11 

1634 

1910-1915 

1647 

102.87 

103.06 

5 

1911-12  

13.84 

1911-1915 

16.50 

103.06 

105.50 

4 

1912-13      ._ 

11.08 

1912-1915 

17.39 

108.62 

111.19 

3 

1913-14 

21  45 

1913-1915 

2055 

128.36 

131.39 

2 

1914-15  ._ 

19.64 

1914-1915 

19.64 

122.67 

125.58 

1 

UTILIZATION   OF    MOJAVE   RIVER. 


67 


TABLE   No.   18. 
Precipitation   at   Glen    Ranch,   San    Bernardino   Mountains. 


Elevation,  3,256  leet. 


Preclpita- 
Season                                 tion, 
inches 

Period 

Average 
precipita- 
tion for 
period, 
inches 

Ratio  to 
15  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Ratio  to 
equated 
65  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Number 
of 
seasons 
in 
period 

1900-01      ._        29.27 

1900-1915 

3376 

100  00 

^106  33 

1901-02                                           VrtOO 

1901  1915 

34  08 

1902-03  ~      29.75 

1902-1915 

3555 

10530 

111  97 

1903-04                                           18.53 

1903-1915 

3604 

106  75 

1904-05                                             3841 

1904  1915 

3763 

111  46 

1905-06  -.                       i     37.63 

1905-1915 

3755 

111  22 

118  26 

1906-07                                         K9.69 

1906-1915 

3754 

111  19 

118  23 

1907-08    -    ...      25.95 

1907-1915 

3602 

10669 

113  44 

1908-09              .                            33.88 

1908-1915 

3746 

11096 

117  98 

1909-10                                           34  67 

1909-1915 

3806 

112  73 

11Q  87 

1910-11  .  _,    ..           „                45.86 

1910-1915 

3875 

11478 

122  05 

1911  12                                           3645 

1911  1915 

36  95 

1912-13  20.13 

1912-1915 

3712 

10995 

116  91 

3 

1913-14      ..      _                          v«3.61 

1913-1915 

4562 

13513 

14368 

2 

1914-15                                           37  63 

1914  1915 

3763 

111  46 

1 

; 

TABLE   No.   19. 
Precipitation  at  Bear  Valley  Dam. 


Elevation,  0,500  feet. 


Season 

:  Precipita- 
tion, 
inches 

Period 

Average 
precipita- 
tion for 
period, 
inches 

Ratio  to 
23  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Ratio  to 
equated 
65  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Nurr 

seasons 
period 

1S92-93  .. 

j 
..    ._  !     44.31 

1892-1915 

34.37 

100.00 

96.35 

23 

1893-94 

24.86 

1893-1915 

33.92 

98.69 

95.09 

22 

1894-95  

t/50.29 

1894-1915 

34.35 

99.94 

96.30 

91 

1895-96      .-    

U1.29 

1895-1915 

33.56 

97.64 

94.83 

20 

1896-97 

33.25 

1896-1915 

34.73 

101.04 

97.35 

19 

1897-98 

i     2022 

1897-1915 

34.81 

10128 

97.59 

18 

1898-99      .-    .- 

i     13.93 

1898-1915 

35.67 

103.78 

100.00 

17 

1899-00 

__  !     20.47 

1899-1915 

37.03 

107.74 

103.81 

16 

1900-01 

31.52 

1900-1915 

38.13 

110.93 

106.88 

15 

1901-02             -.      . 

..    ...  '     26.68 

1901-1915 

38.61 

112.33 

108.23 

14 

1902-03 

40.42 

1902-1915 

39.52 

114.98 

110.79 

13 

1903-04 

25.15 

1903-1915 

39.45 

114,78 

110.60 

12 

1904-05        -      -    .- 

!     44.36 

1904-1915 

40.75 

118.56 

114.24 

11 

1905-06 

!     48.25 

1905-1915 

40.39 

117.51 

113.23 

10 

1906-07      

1     48.38 

1906-1915 

39.51 

114.95 

110.26 

9 

1M)7-08 

_    ...      30.12 

1907-1915 

38.41 

111.75 

107.68 

8 

1908-09 

i     38.20 

1908-1915 

39.59 

115.18 

110.84 

7 

1909-10        

..    ...      34.15 

1909-1915 

39.82 

115.85 

111.63 

6 

1910-11 

49.21 

1910-1915 

40.96 

119.17 

114.83 

5 

1911-12 

25.60 

1911-1915 

38.89 

113.15 

109.02 

4 

1912-13      _.    .-    -. 

._    __j     22.00 

1912-1915 

43.32 

126.04 

121.45 

3 

1913-14 

^53.05 

1913-1915 

53.90 

156.82 

151.11 

2 

1914-15  —  

.t/54.93 

1914-1915 

54.93 

159.82 

154.00 

1 

IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


TABLE   No.  20. 
Precipitation  at  Gate  House,   Little   Bear  Valley. 

Elevation.  5,200  feet. 


Season 

Precipita- 
tion, 
inches 

Period 

Average 
precipita- 
tion for 
period, 
inches 

llatio  to 

average, 
per  cent 

Ratio  to 
equated 
65  season 
average, 
per  cent 

Number 
of 

period 

1893-94  

23.60 

1893-1915 

31.36 

100.00 

96.79 

22 

1894-95  
1895-96  

48.66 

13.81 

1894-1915 
1895-1915 

31.73 

30.88 

101.18 

98.46 

97.93 
95.30 

21 
20 

1896-97 

33.65 

1896-191  5 

31.78 

mi  ::i 

9809 

19 

1897-98 

19  1(1 

1897-1  915 

31  68 

101  (I'* 

9778 

18 

1898-99 

13.66 

1898-1915 

32,40 

K!:::il 

100.00 

17 

1899-<X) 

2277 

1899-1915 

33  57 

1  1  '<•>  (  1.") 

9878 

16 

1900-01             „           ..    ._ 

36.73 

1900-1915 

34.09 

108.71 

19&.22 

15 

1901-02 

20.70 

1901-1915 

34  12 

108.80 

105  31 

14 

1902-03             ..    „    ._    — 

30.13 

1902-1915 

86.15 

112.08 

108.48 

13 

1903-04 

24.32 

1903-1915 

35.57 

113.42 

10978 

12 

1904-05  .  .-    

36.68 

1904-1915 

36.59 

116.68 

112.94 

11 

1905-06 

42.95 

1905-1915 

36.59 

116.68 

11294 

10 

1906-07  

57.48 

1906-1915 

35.88 

114.41 

110.74 

9 

1907-08 

26.29 

1907-1915 

33.18 

105.80 

102.41 

8 

lf*08-09 

40.66 

1908-1915 

3416 

10928 

10577 

7 

1909-10 

33.23 

1909-1915 

33.06 

105.42 

102.04 

6 

1910-11 

44.63 

1910-1915 

33  05 

10538 

10200 

5 

1911-12    ... 

23.18 

1911-1915 

30.16 

96.17 

93.08 

4 

1912-13 

21.99 

1912-1915 

3248 

10357 

10025 

3 

1913-14      __                  ..    ._ 

43.88 

1913-1915 

37.73 

120.31 

116.46 

2 

1914-15 

31.59 

1914-1915 

31  59 

10073 

97.50 

1 

Several  sets  of  measurements  have  been  used  to  determine  the  mean 
annual  discharge  of  Mojave  River  in  the  preparation  of  this  report. 
The  Arrowhead  Reservoir  and  Power  Company  measured  the  streams 
in  the  upper  watershed  now  tributary  or  to  be  tributary  to  Little  Bear 
Valley  reservoir  beginning  with  1891-2,  except  the  seasons  1900-1  to 
1903-4,  inclusive,  also  the  East  and  West  Forks  at  the  Forks  (Plate  II, 
Fig.  2)  and  the  main  river  at  the  Lower  Narrows  (Plate  V,  Fig.  2) 
continuously  beginning  with  1905-6.  The  United  States  Geological 
Survey  maintained  a  gaging  station  on  the  river  at  the  Upper  Nar- 
rows (Plate  V,  Fig.  1)  1899-1900  to  1905-6,  inclusive,  and  the  Mojave 
Water  and  Power  Company  continued  the  measurements  to  and  includ- 
ing 1913-14,  also  measured  the  East  and  West  Forks  at  the  Forks 
1906-7  to  1913-14,  inclusive.  Thus  both  the  Arrowhead  and  Mojave 
companies  gaged  the  flow  at  the  Forks  from  1908-9  to  1913-14,  inclusive, 
so  that  these  measurements,  being  for  the  same  seasons  at  the  same  point 
are  directly  comparable.  The  several  measurements  were  compared  and 
correlated  in  the  following  manner :  All  apparent  conflicts  between  the 
several  series  were  subjected  to  detailed  study,  the  computations  being 


UTILIZATION   OP   MOJAVE   RIVER.  69 

checked  from  the  original  daily  records.  It  was  found  that  the  only 
material  differences  occurred  in  the  records  of  the  heavier  winter  floods. 
In  one  instance  of  considerable  conflict,  the  Forks  records  for  1911-12, 
regarding  which  no  other  method  of  weighing  the  value  of  the  records 
suggested  itself,  recourse  was  had  to  the  precipitation  record  which 
definitely  indicated  that  preference  should  be  given  the  Arrowhead 
company 's  measurement. 

In  general,  the  precipitation  records  were  not  of  as  much  value  in 
checking  the  discharge  as  the  comparison  of  the  discharge  measure- 
ments themselves.  A  study  of  the  precipitation  is,  however,  not  with- 
out interest.  In  only  two  seasons  were  any  errors  of  consequence 
found  in  the  Forks  measurements  of  the  Arrowhead  company.  Both 
appeared  to  have  occurred  in  plotting  the  larger  flood  records  and  to 
be  due  to  infrequency  of  measurements,  probably  caused  by  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  them  during  the  period  of  excessive  flow.  In  only  one 
instance  was  the  error  of  enough  magnitude  to  affect  appreciably  the 
average  for  a  period  of  years.  This  was  for  the  heavy  flood  of  1909-10 
where  the  measurement  of  Deep  Creek  was  130,000  acre-feet  while  that 
of  the  Mojave  Water  and  Power  Company  was  76,000  acre-feet. 
Fortunately  measurements  were1  made  at  both  the  Upper  and  Lower 
Narrows  for  this  season.  By  plotting  these  with  allowance  for  the  dif- 
ference in  time  of  the  peak  of  the  flood  at  the  different  points  and  with 
an  interpolation  of  the  curve  of  the  declining  flood  as  obtained  from 
the  more  frequent  measurements  at  the  Narrows  during  the  same  time 
a  corrected  curve  was  obtained  for  the  Forks  which  reduced  the  Arrow- 
head company's  measurement  about  31,000,  but  still  left  a  difference  of 
about  23,000  acre-feet  between  the  measurement  of  this  company  and 
that  of  the  Mo.jave  company.  As  these  could  not  be  further  reconciled 
nn  average  of  them  was  taken.  The  same  method  was  applied  for  the 
seasons  TIM  IS-!)  to  11)13-14.  inclusive,  during  which  the  two  measure- 
ments were  made  at  the  Forks.  The  Arrowhead  company  made  the 
only  measurements  at  the  Forks  for  1906-7  and  1907-8.  The  records 
agree  so  well  with  those  of  the  Mojave  company  at  the  Upper  Narrows 
that  they  are  assumed  to  be  correct. 

A  marked  discrepancy  occurs  for  the  season  1905-6  between  the 
measurements  of  the  Arrowhead  company  at  the  Forks  and  those  of  the 
Geological  Survey  at  the  Upper  Narrows  as  shown  by  Table  No.  21. 
The  published  government  records1  are  incomplete  for  the  latter  part 
of  the  season  and  the  data  were  supplied  by  the  Mojave  Water  and 
Power  Company. 


1United  States  Geological  Survey.  Water  Supply  Paper  No.  300. 


70  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

TABLE  No.  21. 
Discharge  of  Mojave  River  at  Forks  and  Upper  and  Lower  Narrows — 1905-1906. 


Month 

Discharge 
at  Forks 
(A.  R.  & 
P.  Co.  ) 
Acre  feet 

Discharge 
at  Upper 
Narrows 
(U.  S.  G.  S.) 
Acre  feet 

Discharge 
at  Lower 
Narrows 
(A.  R.  & 
P.  Co.) 
Acre  feet 

July 

449 

1  986 

1  318 

August    __ 

82 

1943 

1602 

September 

43 

2380 

1  659 

October 

102 

2859 

2383 

November 

360 

3808 

2761 

December  

659 

4120 

2841 

January 

3703 

4205 

2888 

February  

4376 

3637 

2493 

March 

84406 

126153 

56790 

April      

21771 

23766 

17,753 

May 

12994 

6800 

8357 

Juno  

6305 

3,909 

3,135 

Season 

135220 

185596 

103,970 

The  Forks  measurement  for  this  season  is  approximately  135,000 
acre-feet  while  that  at  the  Upper  Narrows  is  approximately  185,000 
acre-feet.  This  increase  is  too  large  to  be  explained  as  inflow  from 
the  underground  basin  above  the  Narrows  or  as  local  runoff  from  the 
valley  below  the  Forks.  The  flow  at  the  Lower  Narrows  for  this  season 
was  measured  by  the  Arrowhead  company  to  be  approximately  104,000 
acre-feet.  The  records  for  this  season  at  the  three  points  of  measure- 
ment show  reasonable  agreement  except  for  the  month  of  March.  The 
records  for  this  month  at  the  Forks  and  Lower  Narrows  are  within  the 
limits  of  what  might  be  expected  <ix  difference  between  these  points. 
The  flow  recorded  for  the  Upper  Narrows  is  manifestly  incorrect  if  the 
other  records  are  relied  upon.  It  was  therefore  decided  to  regard  the 
Forks  record  as  being  correct. 

Disregarding  1905-6,  and  taking  the  average  for  1906-7  to  1913-14, 
inclusive,  as  shown  by  Table  No.  22,  the  average  for  these  7  years  at 
the  Forks  varies  less  than  2  per  cent  from  the  average  for  the  same 
period  at  the  Upper  Narrows. 


UTILIZATION   OP   MOJAVE   RIVER. 

TABLE   No.  22. 
Discharge  of  Mojave   River  at  Forks  and   Upper  Narrows. 


71 


Season 

East  Fork 
at  Forks 
(Acre  feet) 

West  Fork 
at  Forks 
(Acre  feet) 

Mojave  River 
at  Forks 
(Acre  feet) 

Mojave  River 
at  Upper 
Narrows 
(Acre  feet) 

Per  cent  of 
discharge  at 
Forks  to 
discharge  at 
Upper 
Narrows 

1905-06 

87633 

47  587 

ioc  nnn 

1906-07    _-    .-      - 

136052 

118265 

254  317 

2t)QQflfi 

1907-08 

40920 

19856 

60  776 

1908-09       

54257 

35483 

89  740 

Q7  781 

1909-10 

87656 

48049 

135705 

1910-11    .. 

86627 

61  311 

147  938 

135  903 

1911-12 

29037 

17  927 

46  964 

1912-13    .  . 

14900 

11  460 

26  360 

OK  OQ7 

74  fi 

1913-14    

105,130 

64805 

1914-15   ... 

77,331 

45,305 

In  general,  there  is  a  loss  from  the  Forks  to  the  Upper  Narrows  in 
years  of  heavy  flood  and  a  gain  in  years  of  relatively  small  flood.  This 
may  he  explained  on  the  theory  that  water  in  this  part  of  the  river  is 
lost  from  the  surface  flow  to  the  underflow  in  the  heavy  floods  and 
returned  by  the  charged  gravels  to  the  surface  stream  above  the  Nar- 
rows in  seasons  of  light  discharge.  It  appears  from  the  measurements 
that  practically  all  of  the  water  which  enters  the  underground  basin 
below  the  Forks  is  re-collected  above  the  Narrows  and  flows  out  through 
them.  The  observations  on  underground  water  serve  to  confirm  this 
belief. 

The  close  relation  shown  to  exist  between  the  flow  at  the  Forks  and 
that  at  the  Upper  Narrows  suggests  an  interpolation  of  discharge  for 
1S!)!)-1900  to  1904-5,  inclusive,  during  which  period  no  gagings  were 
made  at  the  Forks.  Table  No.  22  shows  the  relation  between  the  dis- 
charge at  the  Forks  and  that  at  the  Upper  Narrows  from  1905-6  to  1912- 
13,  inclusive. 

From  these  percentages  and  from  the  recorded  discharges  at  the 
Upper  Narrows  from  1899-1900  to  1904-5,  inclusive,  the  probable  per- 
centage of  discharge  at  the  Forks  to  that  at  the  Upper  Narrows  for  each 
season  was  obtained  and  used  to  compute  discharges  at  the  Forks. 
These  results  vary  less  than  5  per  cent  from  the  measurements  at  the 
Upper  Narrows  by  the  Geological  Survey. 

A  report  of  J.  B.  Lippincott  gives  some  discharges  interpolated  from 
the  ratio  of  flow  at  the  Forks  to  that  of  the  upper  tributaries  for  seasons 
where  the  records  are  available  for  comparison.  Table  No.  23  shows 
these  interpolated  results  and  those  based  on  the  flow  at  the  Upper  Nar- 
rows, although  obtained  in  widely  different  manner,  to  be  in  reasonably 
close  agreement.  There  are  no  complete  measurements  for  the  Forks  or 


72 


IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS    IN   CALIFORNIA. 


either  the  Upper  or  Lower  Narrows  for  1897-8  and  1898-9  and  the 
interpolated  values  deduced  by  Mr.  Lippincott  are  assumed  to  be 
correct. 


TABLE   No.  23. 
Interpolated   Discharge  of  Mojave  River. 


Season 

Discharge 
at  Forks 
interpolated 
from  dis- 
charge of 
upper 
tributaries 
(Acre  feet) 

Discharge 

at  Forks 
interpolated 
from  dis- 
charge at 
Upper 
Narrows 
(Acre  feet) 

1897-1898       

27  040 

1898-1899  _ 

7710 

13  898 

1899-1900  .. 

20000 

18132 

1900-1901    _•_ 

108100 

96  598 

1901-1902  

33610 

33789 

1902-1903  

111  800 

107  315 

1903-1904  

35210 

28232 

1904-1905  - 

103294 

95  016 

In  this  manner  Table  No.  24  of  discharges  of  Mojave  River  at  the 
Forks  has  been  compiled  for  the  18  seasons  1897-8  to  1914-15,  inclusive. 
The  average  annual  discharge  of  the  river  where  it  enters  the  Victor 
Valley  basin  is  shown  to  be  approximately  90,000  acre-feet. 

TABLE   No.  24. 
Discharge  of   Mojave   River  at   Forks — 1897-1915,   Inclusive. 


Season 

Discharge 
(Acre  feet) 

1897  1898 

97  040 

1898-1899                — 

13  878 

1899-1900 

18  132 

1900-1901             

96598 

1901  1902 

33  789 

1902-1903           _  -      —      - 

107,315 

1903-1904 

28232 

1904-1905         — 

95,016 

1905-1906 

135  220 

1906-1907             —      --    --    ...    —  -      -—      

254,317 

1907  1908 

60776 

1908-1909      --        

69,740 

1909-1910 

135,705 

1910-1911  -_-     .__ 

147,938 

1911-1912 

46,964 

1912-1913 

26.360 

1913-1914        ...           —                              .  _    

169,935 

1914-1915 

122,636 

Average   _. 

89,416 

UTILIZATION   OP    MOJAVE   RIVER.  73 

FORKS  RESERVOIR  SITE. 

The  reservoir  site  on  the  West  Fork  of  Mojave  River  just  above  the 
Forks  may  be  designated  West  Fork  reservoir  site  No.  1,  or  as  it  is 
generally  know,  the  Forks  reservoir  site.  The  land  in  this  basin,  or 
nearly  all  of  it  including  the  dam  site,  is  controlled  by  the  Arrowhead 
Reservoir  and  Power  Company.  It  was  the  original  plan  of  the  Mojave 
River  Irrigation  District  to  acquire  and  develop  this  site  to  impound  the 
flood  discharge  of  the  West  Fork  and  to  store,  by  diversion,  that  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  East  Fork  and  to  convey  the  water  by  gravity  to  the 
cast  mesa.  The  district,  however,  did  not  make  known  definite  design, 
if  any  was  decided  upon,  for  the  imporvement  of  the  site. 

The  Arrowhead  company  has  proposed  a  dam  at  the  Fork  site  (Plate 
IV,  Fig.  2)  150  feet  high  which  would  give  a  capacity  of  102,000  acre- 
feet  for  storing  both  East  and  West  Fork  flood  waters.  Borings  made 
by  the  company  at  the  dam  site  show  bedrock  to  be  at  a  maximum 
depth  of  18  feet  below  stream  bed.  The  natural  rim  of  the  basin  at 
one  point  is  only  110  feet  above  the  stream  channel  at  the  dam  site  and 
the  plans  include  the  necesary  raising  of  this  bank  50  feet  to  give  the 
desired  capacity.  The  bank  is  here  merely  a  narrow  remnant  of  detrital 
deposit  between  the  channel  of  the  West  Fork  and  the  channel  of  the 
main  river  at  a  lower  elevation  than  the  West  Fork.  The  peculiar 
topography  of  this  locality  can  be  best  understood  by  reference  to  the 
map.  The  only  foundation  for  a  dam  to  raise  the  bank,  as  shown  by 
excavations  made  by  the  company,  is  a  layer  of  hardpan  at  a  depth  of 
75  feet  below  the  crest  of  the  rim. 

Moderate  leakage,  provided  the  water  reappeared  as  surface  flow  in 
the  river,  might  not  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  condemning  the  site,  for 
the  water  lost  would  help  satisfy  the  owners  of  riparian  lands  and  the 
appropriatori  on  the  stream  below,  but  excessive  leakage  would  impair 
the  value  of  the  reservoir.  Robert  T.  Hill  reported  to  the  commission 
on  the  geology  of  the  site  as  follows : 

"The  Forks  reservoir  site  is  an  elongated  basin  which  has  been 
developed  by  erosion  at  the  junction  of  the  north  side  of  the  San 
Bernardino  Range  and  the  southern  margin  of  the  so-called  Mojave 
Desert.  It  is  triangular  in  shape  and  about  five  miles  long,  in  a  north- 
east-southwest direction,  and  about  two  miles  in  width  at  its  widest 
place.  It  is  bordered  on  the  southeast  and  southwest  sides  by  the  high, 
and  somewhat  precipitous  north  front  of  the  San  Bernardino  Range, 
and  on  the  north  by  the  even  topped  escarpment  of  the  south  side  of 
the  Mojave  plain,  which  slopes  away  therefrom  to  the  northeast.  The 
floor  of  this  basin,  which  is  some  250  feet  beneath  the  summit  of  this 
escarpment,  shows  several  old  levels  and  terraces  of  alluvial  material, 


74  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

below  which  the  river  has  cut  to  its  present  level  close  to  the  northern 
wall. 

' '  The  northeast  end  of  the  basin  is  closed  by  a  natural  dam  which  has 
only  recently  in  geological  time  been  cut  through  by  a  deep  gorge  at  its 
southern  end  through  which  the  river  now  finds  an  outlet.  The  eastern 
end  of  this  dam  is  a  low  conical  granitic  peak,  which  sets  out  from  the 
edge  of  the  main  escarpment  of  the  mountain,  while  the  western  half  is 
a  low  residual  embankment  which  represents  the  former  continuation  of 
the  north  wall  to  a  junction  with  the  granite  outlier  above  mentioned. 
The  top  of  this  natural  embankment  is  perhaps  a  hundred  feet  lower 
than  that  of  the  main  northern  escarpment. 

"The  Mojave  River  now  escapes  from  the  basin  at  the  east  end  of 
this  natural  barrier  by  a  deep  and  narrow  canyon  in  the  granite,  in 
which  it  is  proposed  to  construct  a  dam  for  the  retention  of  the  water 
in  the  reservoir.  In  my  opinion  this  granite  is  an  excellent  site  for  a 
dam  (Plate  IV,  Fig.  2),  and  there  arc  no  geological  reasons  why  one 
should  not  be  constructed  here. 

"The  southern  or  mountain  side  of  the  basin  is  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  a  granitic  rock  characterized  by  large  phenocrysts  of  pink 
orthoclase  feldspar  associated  with  a  finer  ground  mass  of  plagioclase 
and  biotite,  and  which  may  be  termed  a  biotite  quartz  mononite 
porphyry  in  contradistinction  from  the  gray  granite  in  the  Victorville 
hills  which  is  a  granodiorite.  Like  all  the  granite  masses  of  the  desert 
side  whose  surfaces  are  exposed  to  the  weather,  this  rock  is  much  jointed 
and  broken  at  the  surface  by  the  expansion  and  contraction  due  to  the 
diurnal  variations  of  temperature,  but  the  joints  will  be  found  closed 
at  slight  depths.  In  general,  it  may  be  considered  a  highly  impervious 
material,  well  adapted  for  retaining  water  when  the  latter  is  impounded 
against  it,  and  also  excellent  material  upon  which  to  construct  dams. 

"The  north  escarpment  of  the  basin  consists  of  a  steeply  sloping 
cliff  of  the  so-called  Hesperia  formation,  which  at  one  place  affords  a 
fresh  exposure  in  a  vertical  cliff  nearly  200  feet  in  height.  Here  it  is 
seen  to  consist  of  alternating  beds  of  varying  thickness  of  coarse  uncon- 
solidated  gray  angular  sands  and  slightly  reddish  colored  sands  con- 
taining a  very  small  amount  of  clay.  These  beds  dip  slightly  to  the 
north.  They  are  very  porous,  much  more  so  than  is  desirable,  and  the 
question  of  leakage  through  them  is  a  subject  which  deserves  serious 
consideration  before  reaching  final  conclusions  as  to  the  availability  of 
this  basin  for  a  reservoir  site. 

"That  portion  of  the  northeast  barrier  of  the  basin  which  is  composed 
of  the  Hesperia  formation  is  the  weakest  link  in  the  valley  wall.  It  is 
not  only  porous  like  the  main  north  wall,  but  it  is  narrow  and 'bordered 
by  lower  land  on  its  downstream  side.  Also  I  doubt  if  it  will  afford  a 


UTILIZATION   OF   MOJAVE   RIVER.  75 

suitable  foundation  for  constructing  a  higher  dam  at  this  point. 
Serious  study  should  be  given  to  the  capacity  of  this  section  for  the 
inhibition  and  transmission  of  water." 

UPPER  WEST  FORK  RESERVOIR  SITES. 

Two  sites  for  reservoirs  shown  by  the  map,  Plate  VII,  are  located  on 
the  upper  part  of  the  West  Fork  of  Mojave  River.  For  the  purpose  of 
reference,  these  reservoir  sites  have  been  designated  as  West  Fork 
Reservoir  No.  2,  and  West  Fork  Reservoir  No.  3,  in  order  of  location 
looking  upstream.  The  commission  made  surveys  of  these  for  the 
plotting  of  ten-foot  contours,  but  the  scale  of  the  map,  Plate  VII,  does 
not  permit  showing  more  than  each  20-foot  contour.  Area  and  capacity 
curves  for  these  sites  are  shown  by  Fig.  4  and  Fig.  5. 

Three  locations  for  the  dam  were  considered  for  Reservoir  No.  3. 
The  first,  designated  as  Dam  Site  No.  3,  was  abandoned  in  favor  of 
another  further  down  stream,  which  appeared  more  advantageous,  and 
which  was  designated  as  Dam  Site  "No.  3-A.  The  cost  for  the  reservoir 
was  worked  up  on  the  basis  of  using  this  site  No.  3-A.  Later  it  was  dis- 
covered that  saving  could  be  made  by  shifting  still  further  downstream 
to  a  point  which  has  been  designated  as  Dam  Site  No.  3-B,  and  it  is  this 
location  which  would  be  recommended,  subject  to  satisfactory  examina- 
tion by  test  borings,  as  the  place  for  a  dam. 

The  report  of  Robert  T.  Hill,  consulting  geologist,  on  Dam  Sites  Nos. 
2,  3-A  and  3-B  is  as  follows: 

"I  examined  the  geological  conditions  of  the  proposed  dam  sites 
within  the  northern  edge  of  the  mountain  area  along  the  course  of  the 
West  Fork  of  the  Mo.jav<>  Kiver.  These  sites  are  three  in  number,  and 
consist  of  narrow  constrictions  of  the  canyon  Avails  which  are  to  be  the 
dam  sites,  alternating  with  wide  expansions  of  the  valley  which  are  to 
constitute  the  reservoir  sites.  These  dam  sites  (Plate  III,  Fig.  2,  and 
Plate  IV,  Fig.  1)-  are  strongly  entrenched  ridges  of  the  same  granitic 
rock  as  that  which  we  have  previously  described,  and  there  are  no 
geological  reasons  why  they  should  not  be  considered  excellent  locations 
for  the  contemplated  works. 

"Some  fear  has  been  expressed  regarding  the  proximity  of  the  dam 
sites  to  the  fault  lines  which  seem  to  dominate  the  physiography  of  this 
district.  It  is*  my  opinion  that  no  serious  trouble  need  necessarily  be 
anticipated  from  these  conditions.  The  displacements  seem  to  be 
ancient  in  comparison  to  those  now  taking  place  on  the  southwest  side 
of  the  range.  There  are  no  large  or  open  fault  fissures  which  would 
be  conducive  to  leakage.  The  only  danger  would  be  that  of  earthquake 
jars  to  masonry  dams,  and  so  far  as  is  ascertained,  this  particular  area 


76  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 

is  about  as  free  from  seismic  disturbances  as  any  part  of  .southern 
California." 

To  obtain  some  standard  for  ready  comparison  a  safe  section  of  grav- 
ity dam  is  assumed,  all  dimensions  of  which  are  expressed  in  terms  of 
the  height.  The  top  width  is  .15h  and  this  continues  down  for  a  depth  of 
.20h  from  whence  the  section  widens  in  the  form  of  a  trapezoid  to  .65h 
at  the  base.  The  area  of  cross  section  thus  provided  is  .33h2.  While 
not  the  most  effective  or  economical  dam  it  is  sufficiently  strong  and  it 
offers  a  section  for  preliminary  comparison  of  one  dam  with  another. 
Cross  sections  of  the  dam  sites  as  shown  by  Plate  VII  were  taken  and  as 
careful  examinations  as  could  be  made  for  dams  for  varying  dimensions. 

In  order  to  present  the  results  in  the  form  of  cost  curves  rather  than 
yardage  curves  a  cost  of  $6.00  per  cubic  yard  was  assumed  for  all  con- 
crete. The  cost  of  the  dams  was  then  computed  for  heights  from  10  to 
150  feet  and  the  unit  cost  was  determined  for  the  different  capacities. 
The  unit  costs  for  different  capacities  when  plotted  give  a  fairly 
uniform  curve.  Fig.  4  shows  area,  capacity,  and  cost  curves  for  the 
reservoirs,  area  being  plotted  against  depth,  capacity  against  depth, 
and  unit  cost  against  capacity.  The  unit  cost  curves  are  then  used  to 
make  Fig.  5  in  which  the  several  curves  represent  different  combined 
capacities  for  the  reservoirs  and  in  which  the  diagrams  show  the 
capacity  that  should  be  given  each  reservoir  for  the  most  economic  com- 
bination together  with  the  corresponding  unit  cost.  The  curve  at  the 
bottom  of  Fig.  5  is  a  summary  of  those  above,  and  shows  the  unit  cost  in 
dollars  per  acre-foot  for  the  most  economic  combined  capacities  in  acre- 
feet.  It  is  found  that  the  most  economic  combinations  within  the 
range  of  total  storage  which  would  be  desirable  require  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  capacity  be  in  Reservoir  No.  3-A,  also  that  the  ratio  between 
the  capacities  of  the  two  basins  is  not  constant  for  varying  total 
capacity. 

The  maximum  economic  capacity  for  Reservoir  No.  3-A  is  approxi- 
mately 35,000  acre-feet  which  is  shown  to  correspond  to  the  minimum 
unit  cost  of  $34.50  per  acre-foot.  Using  the  same  figure  as  the 
maximum  allowable  unit  cost  for  Reservoir  No.  2  the  maximum 
economic  capacity  for  this  reservoir  is  34,000  acre-feet.  Again  consid- 
ering the  same  unit  cost  as  the  limit  of  expense  the  minimum  economic 
capacity  for  Reservoir  No.  3-A  is  28,000  acre-feet  and  for  Reservoir 
No.  2,  9,400  acre-feet. 

Either  of  these  sites  is  suitable  to  serve  as  the  raservoir  for  the  first 
unit  in  the  development  of  a  project  and  it  is  gratifying  to  find  such 
possibilities  for  economic  storage  ba^rd  <>n  such  small  unils.  It  is  in 
these  units  that  hope  for  a  successful  project  in  Victor  Valley  must  lie. 


UTILIZATION    OF    MOJAVE    RIVER. 


77 


301  300 


CAPACITY    IN  ACRE  FEET 


7 


DAM   SITE     NO.  2 


Fig.   4.— Ar 


78  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

For  the  complete  and  most  economic  utilization  of  the  West  Fork 
waters  a  much  larger  storage  is  needed  and  a  combination  of  these  res- 
ervoirs offers  the  means  to  this  end.  The  curve,  Fig.  5,  shows  a  wide 
range  of  capacity  to  be  possible  through  advantageous  combinations  of 
the  two  reservoirs  without  much  variation  in  unit  cost.  For  example, 
by  proper  combination  a  total  capacity  of  60,000  acre-feet  can  be 
obtained  for  approximately  $33.25  per  acre-foot  while  a  total  capacity 
of  only  31,000  acre-feet  can  be  had  for  $34.00  per  acre-foot,  with  an 
optimum  economic  total  capacity  between  these  two  of  52,000  acre-feet 
for  $32.85  per  acre-foot.  This  indicates  a  possible  flexibility  of  design 
which  is  very  desirable  and  which  is  seldom  obtained. 

If  the  area  to  be  first  put  under  cultivation  is  too  large  it  may  become 
unwieldy  with  nonproductive  acreage  and  difficult  to  carry  through  the 
development  period  while  if  it  be  too  small  the  first  cost  may  be  too 
high  and  the  overhead  charges  proportionately  too  large.  Where  a 
project  offers  such  nearly  equal  unit  cost  for  varying  sizes,  the  first  unit 
may  be  conveniently  given  the  most  desirable  size.  In  the  present  case 
an  initial  or  nucleus  project  should  comprise  from  15,000  to  18,000 
acres. 

With  a  gross  duty  of  1.25  acre-feet  the  water  supply  required  for  a 
district  of  16,500  acres,  or  assuming  that  15  per  cent  of  the  land  is 
unirrigated,  a  net  area  of  14,000  acres  is  17,500  acre-feet  annually. 

The  mean  annual  discharge  of  the  West  Fork  of  Mojave  River  at  the 
Forks  including  Grass  Valley  Creek  is  about  39,200  acre-feet.  The 
mean  annual  discharge  at  the  upper  dam  sites  as  determined  by  com- 
paring the  measurements  at  the  upper  sites  with  those  at  the  Forks,  is 
about  30,000  acre-feet.  It  appears  from  the  discharge  records  that  for 
an  annual  storage  of  approximately  30,000  acre-feet,  a  draft  of  60  per 
cent  of  the  total  storage  or  approximately  18,000  acre-feet  per  year  may 
safely  be  made.  This  is  sufficient  for  a  net  area  of  14,000  acres  or 
allowing  for  15  per  cent  of  the  district  being  unirrigated  a  gross  area 
of  16,500  acres. 

If,  however,  Reservoir  No.  3-A  only  should  be  used  for  this  initial 
project  some  study  should  be  made  of  the  most  economic  use  of  this 
reservoir  and  of  the  form  of  unit  development  that  would  be  consistent 
with  the  full  development  of  the  combined  reservoirs.  Ultimate 
development  would  use  the  full  60,000  acre-feet  capacity  which  should 
give  an  annual  draft  of  approximately  30,000  acre-feet  or  practically 
the  entire  average  flow  of  the  West  Fork. 

Fig.  5  shows  the  economic  division  of  this  capacity  to  be  33,000  acre- 
feet  in  Reservoir  No.  3-A  and  27,000  acre-feet  in  Reservoir  No.  2. 
Therefore,  as  a  tentative  plan  it  is  suggested  that  Reservoir  No.  3-A  be 
constructed  to  a  capacity  of  33,000  acre-feet  for  the  first  unit.  This 


UTILIZATION    OF    MOJAVE   RIVER. 


7!) 


CURVES  OF|COMBNED  CAPACITY 
SHOWING  MOST  ECONOMIC  PROPORTION  FOR 


22000     2<000     2MOO     MflflO     30000     52000 
PROPORTION  OF  COMBINED  CAPACITY  IN  ACRE  FEET  FOR  RESERVOIR  HO.J-A 


CURVES  OF  COMBINED  CAPACITY 
SHOWING  MOST  ECONOMIC.  PROPORTION 


16000      12030      14000      16000      18000     20000     72000     24000     26000    26000    30000     52000     54000     54000 
PROPORTION  OF  COM2INED  CAPACITY  IN  ACRE  FEET  FOR  RESERVOIR  NO.  2 


21W1     J8000    3MOO    J2000     34000    14000     58COO    40000    47000    44000   4(000    48000    50000    S2000    S4000    54000    58000 
COMBINED  CAPACITY  IN  ACRE  FEET 


Fig.  5.— Curves  for  reservoir  sites  on  West  Fork  of  Mojave  River. 


SO  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS'  IN    CALIFORNIA. 

should  allow  a  safe  annual  draft  of  about  20,000  acre-feet  or  on  the 
basis  of  1.25  acre-feet  duty  should  irrigate  a  net  area  of  the  west  mesa 
of  16,000  acres,  or  allowing  15  per  cent  for  lands  not  cultivated,  should 
supply  a  district  of  approximately  19,000  acres.  The  following  is  an 
estimate  of  the  cost  of  such  a  project : 

Dam   $1,125,300  00 

Spillway 20,000  00 

Land,  400  acres  at  $100  per  acre 40,000  00 

Main  conduits 198,000  00 

Distribution  system 322,000  00 


Total    $1.7<KVJOO  (Ml 

The  foregoing  makes  no  allowance  for  interest  during  construction 
which  would  require  two  years.  During  the  first  six  months  of  this 
period  it  is  probable  that  the  work  would  be  of  a  preliminary  character 
including  the  making  of  the  necessary  surveys  and  designs  and  the 
acquisition  of  the  lands  and  water  rights  pertaining  to  the  project.  The 
cost  of  this  preliminary  work  is  estimated  at  $100,000.  For  a  tentative 
scheme  of  financing  therefore  it  is  estimated  that  interest  would  be 
paid  on  sums  as  follows : 

$100,000  at  5  per  cent  for  2     years $10,000  00 

500,000  at  5  per  cent  for  14  years 37,500  00 

000,000  at  5  per  cent  for  1     year    30,000  00 

000,000  at  5  per  cent  for  \     year    _  15,000  00 


Total    $92,500  00 

Adding  interest  to  construction  cost  gives  a  total  estimated  cost  of 
$1,797,800,  or  a  cost  of  $94.62  per  acre.  A  careful  design  of  the  dam 
should  reduce  the  estimated  cost  10  or  15  per  cent  below  the  estimate 
based  on  the  arbitrary  section  of  dam  assumed  for  this  preliminary 
study  and  comparison.  Such  a  reduction  would  lower  the  estimated 
unit  cost  of  the  project  to  approximately  $90.00  per  acre  including 
interest. 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS. 

No  plan  for  the  utilization  of  Mojave  River  would  be  complete  with- 
out considering  the  Little  Bear  Valley  Reservoir.  The  Arrowhead 
Reservoir  and  Power  Company  has  invested  a  large  amount  in  this 
system  for  impounding  and  using  the  water  supply  of  the  upper  water- 
shed of  the  East  Fork  and  is  in  possession  of  valuable  data  on  the 
runoff  from  the  entire  watershed.  This  company  controls  a  large 
amount  of  riparian  land  along  the  river  and  has  acquired  additional 
appropriation  rights.  Options  on  the  company's  properties  are  held 
by  the  Victor  Valley  Irrigation  District.  It  is  not  evident  that  this 


UTILIZATION   OP    MOJAVE   RIVER.  81 

district  can  be  properly  supplied  with  water  from  Little  Bear  Valley 
reservoir  at  reasonable  cost.  The  length  of  conduit  and  the  expensive 
nature  of  construction  required,  the  limited  quantity  of  water  avail- 
able and  the  comparatively  small  amount  of  power  which  may  be 
developed  point  to  such  a  large  unit  cost  as  to  render  the  project  imprac- 
ticable. The  report  of  J.  B.  Lippincott  points  out  that  the  project 
is  feasible  only  on  the  basis  of  a  high  duty  of  water  such  as  one  acre- 
foot  and  indicates  uncertainty  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  this  duty.  We 
are  of  the  opinion  that  a  duty  of  one  acre-foot  is  insufficient  for  the 
area  included  in  the  district. 

We  deem  it  unwise  to  give  special  consideration  to  any  particular 
body  of  land  and  hold  that  the  broad  problem  is  not  how  to  deliver  the 
water  to  some  particular  lands  but  how  to  devise  the  most  economical 
plan  to  properly  irrigate  part  of  the  valley.  There  is  a  large  area  of 
land  but  a  limited  quantity  of  water. 

The  flood  waters  may  also  be  stored  at  the  Victor  reservoir  site  con- 
trolled by  the  Mojave  Water  and  Power  Company  and  although  this 
site  is  too  low  to  be  of  service  to  either  of  the  irrigation  districts,  plenty 
of  good  land  on  which  the  water  may  be  used  is  situated  below  the  site. 

In  the  pursuit  of  practical  means  for  the  utilization  of  Little  Bear 
Valley  Keservoir  we  suggest  that  some  land  of  the  east  mesa  may  be 
irrigated  with  this  supply  at  less  expense  than  may  the  lands  of  the 
west  mesa  and  that  such  a  distribution  would  also  permit  the  develop- 
ment of  more  electrical  energy.  The  West  Fork  reservoir  sites  may  be 
used  to  store  water  for  the  west  mesa  lands. 

The  Appleton  Land,  Water  and  Power  Company  owns  extensive  lands 
having  riparian  rights  and  some  appropriation  rights  and  the  pipe  lines 
of  this  company  are  in  a  position  to  receive  the  discharge  from  Little 
Bear  Valley  reservoir.  For  the  nucleus  of  development  on  the  east  side 
and  near  the  river  on  the  west  side  it  would  seem  that  this  company's 
ditch  and  pipe  lines  might  have  a  very  definite  value  if  used  with  the 
Arrowhead  Eeservoir  and  Power  Company's  properties. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  suggestions  and  findings. 

(1)  The  proper  duty  of  water  is  approximately  1.50  acre-feet  per 
acre  per  annum  for  the  east  mesa  and  1.25  acre-feet  per  acre  per  annum 
for  the  west  mesa. 

(2)  The  total  annual  average  discharge  of  Mojave  River  is  approx- 
imately  90,000   acre-feet,   of  which  about  one-third  is   available  for 
storage   in   Little    Bear   Valley   reservoir   now   partially   constructed, 
about  one-third  is  available  for  storage  in  proposed  upper  West  Fork 
reservoirs,  and  about  one-third  should  be  allowed  for  the  riparian  lands 
along  the  river. 


82  IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

(3)  We  suggest  the  use  of  the  water  supply  under  two  projects;  one 
for  the  west  mesa  to  make  use  of  the  upper  West  Fork  reservoirs  with 
an  initial  unit  having  storage  in  Reservoir  No.  3-A  of  33,000  acre-feet 
and  a  district  of  18,400  acres  and  an  ultimate  project  with  storage  in 
both  reservoirs  of  60,000  acre-feet  and  a  district  of  29,000  acres;  the 
other  to  use  Little  Bear  Valley  reservoir  water  from  which  may  be 
delivered  by  the  shortest  route  to  the  lands  of  the  east  mesa,  utilizing 
the  greater  inherent  power  en  route  and  irrigating  approximately  20,000 
acres  net,  or  allowing  for  15  per  cent  of  the  total  being  unirrigated,  a 
total  project  area  of  23,000  acres.  The  total  net  area  under  the  two 
systems  would  be  about  45,000  acres,  and  allowing  15  per  cent  for  lands 
unirrigated  within  the  exterior  boundaries  a  total  gross  area  of  about 
52,000  acres. 


APPENDIX 


IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 


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